


Dead Men Tell No Tales

by ashleyrittner_AU



Category: Little Mix (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Assassins & Hitmen, Badass Harry, Car Chases, Crimes & Criminals, Criminal AU, Danger, Deadpool humour, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Explosions, Fanfiction, Fiction, Fluff and Smut, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I can't think of more tags tbh, M/M, Romance, Simon Cowell - Freeform, Snipers, Swearing, Violence, badass louis, eventual ziam, everyones badass tbh, is a snake lol, it's lit trust me, larry stylinson - Freeform, long-fic, no one gets seriously injured...maybe., not much angst, so keep that in mind, they're older than they are rn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-02 00:53:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8644918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleyrittner_AU/pseuds/ashleyrittner_AU
Summary: "What made you do this job anyway?" Was a question that Louis got far too often, and never had an answer for. Maybe he'll know the answer soon, or maybe he'll just try to forget that he ever had to live this life. Or, that badass Larry AU where anything can happen... Just like how Louis managed to fuck up one of the biggest heists in England, he runs into Harry in a cab... They're kind of stuck together after that, thanks to Louis' mistake.All Rights Reserved® This is a work of complete fiction, portrayal of characters is completely made up by myself.





	1. ONE.

**Author's Note:**

> Hell yeah boi, this fic is gonna be liiiittt.

**ONE / RUN BOY RUN - WOODKID**  
  
  


Louis fucked up.  
  
Louis fucked up _so_ bad. He could not have had worse timing, yet he planned this three months prior.  
  
" _One job, one fucking job Tomlinson_!” His boss, Jack screamed through Louis’ ear piece as he scrambled frantically through the vault room.  
  
“Shut up! I’m trying to focus, dickhead.” Louis’ hands barely shook as he crouched down to the safe he was assigned to empty without getting caught. _672_.  
  
Louis pulled out the little scrap piece of a tissue he had used as a notepad, 6 digits scrawled across in terrible hand writing, Louis was glad he was the one who had to read it otherwise not a single person would’ve made out what numbers were written.  
  
“When you think about it…” Louis hummed into his mic as he spun the dial on the safe to it’s designated numbers. Jack groaned, impatience kicking in and not in the mood for Louis’ wit.  
  
“This works out great, because the vault room was literally wide open already. I just had to get in without getting caught, who would’ve thought eh?” Louis was probably the most laid back person you could ever meet in this line of work. It was almost sinister how okay he was with this job.  
  
Jack huffed through the line while Louis let out a little yelp, stumbling back as the dial on the safe spun around twice on its own before open in front of him. _Holy fuck_.  
  
“Am I seriously supposed to take all this? It’s like, 15 little felt bags of just jewels. Jewels aren’t even that great man.” Louis sighed, even though he was already stuffing the little felt bags into his brief case.  
  
Of course there were cameras, but based on the mess he walked into when he started the mission, the cameras would definitely have been hacked into or shut down. He really hoped it was the second one, the last thing he needs is a bunch of men doing the exact same thing as him, for another heist leader, watching him take jewels from the vault and then wanting to kill him for potentially fucking up their own job.  
  
Because Louis may or may not have tripped an alarm by accident when he dodged a burly, buff man on his way to the vault.  
  
“Louis just get the fuck out of there _now_!” Jack yelled, Louis could picture his face. He was probably in the comfort of his office, big oak desk in front of him and two beautiful women tending to his every need as he stressed over Louis’ current position. _Spoilt_.  
  
“Alright, alright! Keep it down, Jesus. This damn alarm going off has already given me a big enough headache, don’t need your squeaky panic voice screaming at me too.” Louis slammed the safe shut, brief case in hand as he casually walked through the main door of the vault room as if nothing had happened.  
  
He wasn’t entirely sure what the other heist was doing, but they were being incredibly loud. He could hear several men yelling at one another, and other men fighting security off. Louis was almost home free, he could easily put on an act as if he had just been held at gun point inside the bank and make a run for the front door. However, luck was never in his favour and he was grabbed by the shoulder just as he was about to leave.  
  
“Who the hell are you?” The man asked, having almost a solid 2 feet over Louis in height and a good 200 more pounds than him as well.  
Louis gulped.  
“I really don’t have time for this mate, I have to feed my cat.” He lied, he didn’t have a cat, but he did in fact not have much time left before Jack sends his other men inside.  
  
Louis squeezed by the man in one quick move, his hand resting on his pocket and the other clutching the brief case to his chest. He lost the giant man, but his luck once again came up short as he detoured to the back doors and ran into 3 other guys, who were actually his sized for once.  
  
The 3 men blocked the door, one of them holding a brief case just like Louis’ and a smirk on his face. Twice of the three men began stalking towards Louis, whipping out their own guns held towards his face as they approached him slowly.  
  
“What’ve you got there mate? Surely something that doesn’t belong to you.” The one on the left asked, and Louis laughed.  
  
“No time for hit chat boys, like I told Shrek back there, I’ve got a cat to go feed.” Louis said, his voice as casual as ever. He even heard Jack bark out a laugh through his earpiece, _Shrek. That’s a good one_! He could hear him saying. Immediately the man on the right launch forward, attempting to grab the brief case out of Louis’ grasp. Louis swiftly lunged back, whipping out his 9 millimeter glock and pointed it toward the man on his right.  
  
“Think of it this way, I’m literally Dora. My monkey boots left me alone on this one, and you’re Swiper. So, Swiper no swiping. Please.” Louis joked, and the two men only grew more angry and impatient with him. So, Louis did what he does best.  
  
He ran. Directly between the two men and headed straight for the door that the last man was guarding, clutching his very own brief case in his hand. Once Louis reached the door, the man swung his brief case to hit louis in his shoulder, which made him drop his brief case at the same time as the other man. Louis swung over his right should with his gun, knocking the man in the face causing him to stumble to the ground.  
  
Louis grabbed the brief case closest to him and bolted out of the door, the other men started chasing him through the streets. Weaving in and out of the crowds and knocking over little old ladies, bastards Louis thought out loud as he heard an older woman gasp a few feet back.  
  
None of the men dared to shoot at him, the risk of being caught was already far too high for them. Naturally, Louis out ran them and lost them has he ditched through an alley and ended up a few streets over from the bank. Having lost the men, he slipped into a small store and purchased himself a green hoodie and tossed his black one into a dumpster a few blocks up.  
  
His gun was safely tucked into the back of his pants now, his brow dripping with sweat as he hurried to the next busiest street. He hissed as he switched arms to carry the rather heavy case, his right shoulder stinging a little from the hit back in the bank.  
  
“I didn’t know jewels could be so fucking heavy Jack, what the hell.” Louis mumbled into his mic attached to his collar. Louis heard cars, _lots_ of cars. Louis also heard the pings and pangs of bullets hitting store signs and street poles.  
  
“Fucking hell these guys are ruthless Jack! You don’t pay me enough for this shit!” Louis yelled, taking off into a sprint and getting a decent amount of space between him and the three black SUVs that were now stuck in traffic. He may or may not have ran into the middle of the intersection and paid a cab driver $200 to take his time going through the light when it turned green.  
  
Without having a second to think, Louis ran over to a different cab that was pulled over on the street and raced to the drivers side window and tapped it lightly with the end of his gun, telling the man to roll down the window.  
  
“Listen, mate. I _really_ suggest you let me borrow your car, you see those SUVs about 2 blocks back? They’re gonna be on the tail of your car if you don’t let me take it. Please.” He said sweetly, gun still pointing at the man in the drivers seat.  
  
Louis heard a laugh from the back seat, he hadn’t even noticed that there was a passenger in the cab, and he sure as hell had no clue why the man wasn’t running. _Underestimating my size_ , _I bet_ , Louis thought to himself.  
  
Long, brown, curly hair flowed to the mans shoulders. His nosed scrunched and his mouth curved into a smirk, the blue dress shirt peaking out from underneath his black blazer and a cross neckless dangling down his chest, resting between two swallow tattoos. If Louis wasn’t in such a rush to not get killed, he probably would’ve made some really cheeky comment but all he could manage was…  
  
“Oh, seeing a man being chased by multiple men with guns bigger than he is, is quite a funny joke innit?” Louis was snarky, and impatient now. The cab driver hustled out of the car, tossing the keys to Louis as he slipped into the seat.  
  
The man still hadn’t moved, not even flinching has Louis turned around with his gun pointed straight at the mans forehead.  
  
“You’ve got about three seconds to get out of the car, or you’re coming with me on probably the most exciting car chase of your life.” Louis said, not breaking eye contact as he noticed the man open his brief case, pulling out his very own 9 millimeter hand gun.  
  
“I know a failed heist when I see one, mate. Just drive while you still can.” The man retorted, a loud ping sounded off the trunk of the car. Louis cussed under his breath and pulled the car out of the street and onto the road, _who the fuck does this guy think he is?_  
  
“Failed? You better watch your mouth, now really isn’t the time to start a fucking argument with me.” Louis threatened, swerving between cars through the city and making his way towards the main highway.  
  
“They wouldn’t chase you unless you had something they wanted, correct?” The man remarked, Louis looked in the review mirror and watched as the man quickly unrolled his windows and hung himself out the window to shoot.  
  
“We’ll talk later. Just fucking, I don’t know.” Louis huffed taking an aggressive turn to the right, making Harry stumble.  
  
“I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, long as you fucking learn how to drive! Death by gunman? More like death by a fucking car accident. Do you even know where you’re going?” Harry hollered, still half out the window as he shot at the one SUV catching up to them with only two other cars in between.  
  
“Of course I know where I’m fucking going, I’m getting on the highway you dickhead!” Louis yelled, honking his horn as he flew through the two lane traffic.  
“Well you took the wrong turn, go left at this light.” Harry said rather calmly, and Louis snickered.  
  
“Don’t tell me what to-“  
  
“Left!” Harry snapped, and Louis palm steered as hard as he could to make the left turn fast enough before missing it completely. Louis slammed the little window shut to somehow block Harry out for a few minutes.  
  
Louis mocked Harry’s tone, mumbling to himself about how screwed up this whole mission has become. As he drove down the highway, he had gotten enough space between him and the SUVs now so that Harry could slip back into the cab. Harry knocked aggressively on the window, demanding for it to be opened to which Louis slid open and sighed heavily.  
  
“What do you want?” Louis asked, not slowing the car down for a second and his eyes focused on the road.  
  
“They’re pretty far back, but they aren’t letting up. Like at all, we need to go somewhere and hide for a few hours dude.” Louis laughed, _is this guy serious_?  
  
“Don’t even know you’re god damn name or what you do to even have a gun in your brief case!” Louis said hysterically, his hands lifting from the wheel before gripping back on tightly. “And you’re trying to take over my mission? Seriously. Have you got any respect for-“  
  
“Harry. I’m the creator of Styles. The clothing brand, get it?” Harry laughed at his own pun. Louis has never rolled his eyes so hard before.  
  
“Styles is also my last name, and I just happen to be a part time hitman. So, what’s your name since we’ve got some time to get to know each other.” Harry asked, he was now sitting backwards in the seat with his head against the little cab window screen.  
  
“Louis. Assassin, that’s all you’re getting out of me. You’ve got a hideout?” Louis asked, and Harry turned around to face the window.  
  
“I do, take the next exit and a left at the first lights. It’s at my main office, just trust me. No one will know a single thing.” Harry said seriously, Louis only nodded and rubbed his head with his hand.  
  
“You alright?” Harry asked, and Louis huffed.  
  
“Fuckin headache the size of Alaska, stupid alarms at the bank were so unnecessarily loud.” Louis said, digging his hand into his pocket and grabbing his sunglasses. It was at least six in the evening, but god damn the sun was so bright, Louis could die.  
  
Louis felt a nudged to his right shoulder, he slightly hissed in pain and turned to see a large hand holding two Advils. “Thanks.” He mumbled, swallowing the pills dry.  
The rest of the ride was silent, they ditched the car a few blocks before Harry’s office building. Louis clutched his brief case tightly at his side as they walked in silence, Harry walked with ease as he lead the way.  
  
“Shit, I have to call my boss.” Louis remembered, he completely cut Jack off once he got to the cab. Harry nodded, opening the door and gesturing for Louis to go in first.  
The building was insanely massive, but it didn’t surprised Louis. In fact, he’s been into so many large business buildings that nothing could surprise him anymore after he saw a massive marble statue of a bird in the centre of some new tech brand building.  
  
The floors were dark cherry wood, the walls were all white with the occasional large photograph of a model in wearing the brand. Busy bodies hustled about, greeting Harry as they head towards the elevator.  
  
“Nice place.” Louis commented as Harry pressed the button to the basement.  
  
“Thank you, the basement is way cooler.” Harry said, smiling proudly to himself.  
  
Harry was right. The basement was so god damn cool, Louis resisted the urge to turn into a seven year old and touch everything around him. Harry showed him around the room, the walls held so many weapons that Louis didn’t know where to look first even thought they were caged shut with massive locks. There was also a large desk at the far end, a red carpet tucked underneath of it and multiple filing cabinets sat behind the desk as well.  
  
Harry sat down in the big leather chair behind the desk, placing his brief case on top and kicked his black suede boots off onto the floor beside him. Louis stood awkwardly, not really sure what to do so he decided to pull out his phone and call Jack.  
  
After lots of yelling, briefly explaining what had happened and what the next plan is, Louis had learned the Jack knows Harry and Louis couldn’t resist a tantrum over the phone because Jack told Louis that Harry could be of great use for the plan to follow. Louis hung up on him, marching over to the two seater couch that sits to the right of the big desk and dropped down into the soft leather seat.  
  
“Why the fuck does this chair have to be so comfy?” He mumbled, dropping the brief case to the floor beside his feet. Harry laughed a little, flipping through his phone.  
“Because I want my guests to be comfortable?” Harry said.  
  
“You know how I said you might have something that those guys wanted?” Harry continued, Louis had his eyes shut and was sprawled on his stomach, too comfy to even speak so he simply nodded. “Did you even check what’s in your case?” Harry asked, and Louis laughed.  
  
“Why would I? It’s literally _my_ case. I know what’s in there, see it even has like gold “L” on the handle right-“ Louis cut himself off as he looked down at the brief case, within seconds he was rolled off the couch, standing with his gun pointed at Harry.  
  
“Where’s my case?” He asked, panic flowing through his veins. Harry shot his hands up in defense and shock.  
  
“How the hell would I know? I only had mine in the car this entire time, look through it if you want but it’s mine.” Harry said seriously, watching Louis as he popped the clip and opened it up only to see a few files, and Harry’s gun. Louis sighed, dropping his gun onto the couch behind him and knelt to the floor.  
  
Louis slowly released the clip on the case, opening it up and staring in shock. “Well, those are definitely not what I was sent to get…” He huffed, grabbing one solid bar and examining it closely.  
  
“This also explains why it was so fucking heavy.” He sighed, looking up at Harry who’s eyes were wide.  
  
“Uhm, Louis…” Harry started, but Louis shushed him.  
  
“I don’t need you, of all people to point what a bad job I did.” He hissed, and Harry sighed.  
  
“For the love of god Louis how many bars of gold is in there?” Harry asked, getting up and moving around the desk to kneel on the floor with Louis.  
  
“Jesus, fucking- 4? You have _4_ fucking bars of gold in your- that’s 25 pounds a bar... You just carried 100 pounds worth of fucking gold in your suit case across the city.” Harry said, his eyes glued to the bar of gold he was holding. Louis quickly opened the calculator app and google on his phone.  
  
“Okay so one bar is worth about $506,400… times that by 4, and holy fuck I accidentally took 2 million dollars worth of gold form the bank of England.” Louis said in a whisper, Harry’s head shot up so face at the mention of the bank that Louis almost fell over.  
  
“You took it from the bank of fucking _England_?! _Louis_! That isn’t even hitman, gunman, heist territory that’s a fucking death wish!” Harry whisper-shouted, and Louis sighed.  
  
“I wasn’t supposed to take gold! I was _supposed_ to take some jewels from some ladies safe, which I did! But I must’ve grabbed the wrong case when the guy hit me with his- which I know why my shoulder hurts so bad because it was full of fucking _gold_!” Louis was usually calm about these kinds of things. However, he just took gold from the bank of England that was supposed to be someone else’s and now he’s just fucked again. Harry slouched, feeling bad for Louis in the slightest. He could tell Louis wasn’t a newbie or anything, and he could only imagine how guilty and shitty he must feel for ruining a mission  
  
“Well. What do we do now?” Louis asked Harry, and Harry was taken back by the question because, _we? Who the fuck is we?_  
  
“ _Excuse me_?” He asked, eyebrows raised. Louis slouched, pulling out his phone.  
  
“Dude, you literally chose to stay in the cab and then brought me here to hide. You’re not getting out of this” Louis said seriously, and Harry knew he was right. He brought himself into this mess.  
  
“Fucking hell, okay. I’m gonna make a few phone calls, we’re going out tonight. I’ll have Jade come and size you for a suit.” Harry stated, rather than asked. Louis looked up at him with confusion and stood to face him.  
  
“What in bloody hell makes you think I’m going to make any sort of public appearance tonight? Let alone in a suit, with _you_.” Louis said, attitude full on for show.   
  
“I have a design showing tonight that I have to attend, and you’re going to meet my team. Do you have anyone you should invite?” Harry asked, leaning against the door frame.  
  
“Fine, I’ll call my buddy Liam. He’s the only one I can trust with something like this.” Louis said, sitting back down onto the couch, leaving the case of gold on the floor. He almost felt sick whenever he looked at it now.  
  
“Great, tell him to come here. Meet him in the lobby, he’ll have to be sized as well.” Harry said, leaving Louis behind in the room. Louis grabbed his phone, scrolling until he found his best, and only friend.  
  
“Liam? Yeah. I need you to head over to the Styles fashion building. Don’t ask questions, I’ll meet you in the lobby.” Louis sighed, he couldn’t believe this was happening.  
  
“Okay, do I need to bring anything?” Liam asked, attentive as ever. Louis was thankful.  
  
“Just yourself, I’ll explain everything else when you get here.” After bidding goodbye, there was a quiet knock on the door. A pretty young girl stood with a measuring tape and a little notepad in hand. _Jade_. Was she even supposed to be down here?  
  
“Louis? Right? I’m Jade.. Mr. Styles sent me to come and size you for a suit?” She asked, already moving through the room to stand in front of Louis.  
  
“Uhm, yes? Are you sure you’re even allowed to be down here?” He asked as she pushed his arms up and began pulling the tape around his waist.  
  
“Louis, darling. You have no idea, I’m the only other person in the building besides Niall that has access down here. Turn please.” She demanded, measuring some more and then walking Louis towards the elevator to go meet Liam.


	2. TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please share this story, I really suck at self promo. Leave comments and what not too :) Enjoy!

** TWO / AINT NO REST FOR THE WICKED – CAGE THE ELEPHANT **

 

Two suits fitted later, a brief explanation of what had happened, and getting probably the biggest lecture from Liam that Louis has ever gotten, Harry came to his rescue, telling Jade to have them join him in his office once they were dressed.

Louis was dressed in a blue two button suit, a white dress shirt underneath without a single crinkle pressed into it, and brown dress shoes to tie it together. Jade also took it into her hands to style Louis’ messy, frizzy fringe into a pulled back quiff with the sides gelled back. He borrowed a pair of aviator sunglasses from an accessory rack in the fitting room, and he was thoroughly impressed with the outcome of how he looked.

Liam was dressed in an all black tuxedo, with only a white collared shirt peaking out from his black vest and tie. Black dress shoes on his feet completing the look, and a bit of a beard touch up from another stylist. Liam kept telling Louis just how soft and comfortable the fabric was, and Louis couldn’t be more annoyed. Both boys road down the elevator in silence, not that Louis didn’t want to talk, but he still had his headache from earlier which left him wearing his sunglasses inside. He felt like a right douche, but didn’t care. The minute they walked into Harry’s office, Louis noticed two new people he hadn’t met yet. One of them, had blonde hair swooped upward and brown at the roots. He was dressed in a simple black tuxedo, a thin black striped dress shirt underneath and a tie closing the whole outfit.

He walked right over to Louis and Liam, fixing his watch under his cuff before swinging a hand out to shake. Louis took it firmly, “I’m Niall. You must be Louis.” “Unfortunately, yeah that’s me.” Louis stifled a laugh, he could tell by the look on Niall’s face that he knew exactly what he had gotten himself into today. “S’alright man, shit happens. From what I hear, you’re one of the best in the business. With all of us together, we’ll figure somethin’ out.” Niall smiled, his bright attitude was contagious, Louis found himself smiling before bringing Liam forward. 

“This is Liam, my best and only friend- also my partner in crime.” Louis introduced, Liam and Niall shook hands and cracked few jokes before moving on to the other unfamiliar man standing beside Niall.

He was incredibly quiet, also wearing sunglasses inside which made Louis feel less douche-y. His hair was styled almost the same as Louis, except one thick strand curled down in the centre like a Clark-Kent-look. He was dressed in a double-breasted suit, a simple white dress shirt underneath that had a black suede collar on it.

“I’m Zayn, I actually have no huge part in this shit going on.” Zayn, introduced himself. Louis and Liam shared a glance to each other before nodding and smiling at Zayn, and shook his hand.

“Fair enough mate, nice to meet you.” Liam answered before Louis could, because well, someone _else_ entered the room.

“’M Harry, you must be Liam then.” Harry said, sneaking up behind Louis and Liam through the door and moving in front of them to introduce himself to Liam. Louis swears on his life that if anyone else was dressed like Harry was, he would _laugh_. Yet Louis couldn’t take his eyes off of the six foot tall man in front of him, Louis _hated_ this event already. Harry as wearing a loose dress shirt that was left unbuttoned down to reveal a butterfly tattoo- _a fucking butterfly tattoo._ A black blazer jacker sat comfortably on his shoulders, he even had a god damn black and white patterned scarf just hanging around his neck. Black slacks hung comfortably on his hips, and black leather boots covered his feet. The only reason Louis would’ve laughed at anyone else, was because of the hat. _Of course, he wears fucking fedoras, and of course he can pull it off._

Harry introduced himself to Liam, and Liam thanking him for the invite and telling Harry how he’s excited to attend the event. Louis wanted to strangle him, right then and there. Except he caught Harry looking him up and down from head to toe, and smirking.

“Suit fit alright then, Louis?” Harry asked, and Louis scoffed. _No._

“Yes, Jade did a wonderful job.” Louis said instead, which was actually the truth anyway. The suit was comfortable, and if he liked the way his ass looked in the pants then no one needed to know.

“Good, I see we’ve all been properly introduced now so let’s get down to business.” Harry said, walking over to one of the caged walls of weapons. Louis and Liam looked at each other with confusion.

“Are we planning to kill someone at your show or something?” Louis asked, walking over to his brief case that was sitting on Harry’s desk. Harry tossed a lock and key over to Louis that was hanging on the wall, Louis quickly locked the case shut and placed the key into the inner pocket on his suit jacket.

“No, but because of the shit you caused, we have to be ready. Who knows if anyone saw you leave with me.” Harry said, Louis was ready to protest and argued about ‘the shit he caused’ but decided against it.

Zayn grabbed himself a gun off the wall, and slipped a spare magazine into his jacket. For someone who didn’t have a major part in this shit, he sure seemed to know what he was doing. Liam already came prepared, showing off his own Sig Sauer that was tucked into the waist band of his pants. Harry walked back over to his desk, grabbing his 9millimeter pistol that matched Louis’ and tossed Louis an extra magazine.

Last was Niall, which confused Liam and Louis a lot. Niall grabbed himself a 50 Caliber sniper rifle off the wall. When Niall turned around, he looked at Louis and Liam and laughed.

“This is what I do, boys. The best in the business for being a sniper, I’ll be going in with you to start but if there’s any signs of people who don’t belong, I’ll be in a room in the hotel next door.” Niall explained, Liam and Louis shrugged and nodded. Whatever is best, they guessed.

“We’ll all be going in separately at different times. Zayn, you’re going in first because you have to get to wardrobe.” Harry explained.

“Wardrobe?” Louis questioned and Zayn nodded.

“I’m one of the models, but don’t worry no one will notice the gun. ‘S what Liam’s for.” Zayn said, and Liam raised an eyebrow.

“You’ll be front row, I’ll be on the cat walk. If anything happens, your job is to toss me my gun. Got it?” Zayn explained and Liam nodded, it’s not like he had much a choice anyway.

“Next will be Niall and Liam. If any reporters ask you questions, keep walking. Don’t stop for any press photo’s either.” Harry took a seat beside Louis, both of them sitting on top of the desk.

“We’re last, I’ll have to do some press photos and answer some questions.” Harry said, adjusting his hat on his head.

“What do I do while you do that, then?” Louis asked, he had never been to a fashion event before so he was basically clueless.

“You can’t have your face plastered over the internet showing where you are, do your best to avoid the cameras. Sunglasses on, head down. Act like you have nothing to do with this event.” Harry explained, and Louis laughed.

“I literally have nothing to do with this event anyway, why can’t I just go in alone?” Louis asked and Harry smirked.

“Your pants are a little tight, don’t think you’d be able to get your gun out quick enough just in case.” Harry winked, slipping off the desk and putting Louis’ brief case into a safe behind the cage and slipped Louis a piece of paper with a combination on it.

“Fucking dick, at least my ass looks good and I don’t look like the Quaker oats guy. Dickhead.” Louis huffed, Harry laughed loudly and shook his head.

“Alright, that was actually pretty fucking spot on. As for your ass, Jade did a great job.” Harry winked again, and headed towards the door.

“If you two are done bitching, can we get this show on the road? Jade just texted and said the cars are all lined up out front.” Niall said, his sniper was tucked into a black sniper case that had some knock off photography light lamp logo on the front of it.

It was no surprise to Harry that there was already photographers outside of his office building waiting for him to step outside. Niall took his own car, Zayn and Liam got into a black SUV together, after Zayn having to stop for a few quick photos. Louis looked out the window and sighed.

“Is it too late to just go put the brief case on the door step of the bank and go to bed? My heads killing me man.” Louis huffed, Harry’s face saddened a little.

“It is, but I have some more Advil in the car if you’d like. Are you sure you’re alright? You actually look like shit.” Harry commented, and Louis let out a breathy laugh and rubbed his forehead.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised. So, are we doing this or what?” Louis asked and Harry gave one more sympathetic look to Louis and nodded.

“Go straight to the car, I have to take a few photos and then we’ll leave. Ask the driver for the Advil, the middle compartment has water bottles inside.” Harry explained, and Louis nodded.

Louis stepped out first, head down and sunglasses on as he walked by everyone. Photographers and reporters were all lined up along the barriers and shouting questions at Louis, asking who he was, where Harry was, if there was anything he could comment on about a new piece coming out for Harry’s catalogue. Louis swiftly stepped into the car, shutting the door behind him quickly. He asked the driver for Advil like Harry said, and took a bottle of water out and waited patiently.

Louis took a second to realize how messed up this whole thing was, if he had grabbed the right case he wouldn’t even be bothering with this shit. He was tired, hungry, annoyed, and just wanted to go have a shower and sleep for a few days. He watched as Harry politely declined any interviews, took a few pictures and slid into the car and quietly shut the door.

“Did you get yourself some Advil?” Harry asked, Louis scoffed and leaned close to whisper.

“I’m literally an Assassin, please stop treating me like a child.” Louis said, and Harry nodded stiffly.

The rest of the car ride was silent, Louis managed to catch a good 20 minute nap and woke up to the loud crowd outside of the building where the event was being held. Harry stepped out of the car and Louis followed behind him, Harry’s positive attitude had dropped to a serious one and seemed very agitated as he walked the carpet to do a few interviews.

Louis pulled him aside quickly, “Hey, you good? You seem like somethings off, did you see someone?” Louis asked and Harry rolled his eyes.

“No. I didn’t, but I’m a hitman, Louis. Stop pestering me like a hormonal teen.” Harry snapped back, he was ready to turn and walk away from Louis but Louis grabbed his arm and tugged him back.

“Really? What the fuck are we, 12? Sorry I’m a grouch, but I literally just fucked up two massive heists and now I have to attend an event that I haven’t got a fucking clue about man.” Louis said, swaying on his feet and looking around to make sure no one was listening in.

Harry nodded, sighing heavily and gave a soft smile.

“I get that, but you also dragged me into something that I have no clue about either. I know I agreed to stay in the car, fine. But can we just fucking get this night over with?” Harry huffed, Louis raised an eyebrow.

“Dude this is a big night for you, is it not? Just enjoy it, do your thing or whatever you do anyway. You don’t know if someone’s gonna come along and ruin it. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be around.” Louis said, and then walked off leaving Harry on the carpet alone.

Louis met up with Niall inside the front doors and was immediately approached by woman and men carrying trays of Champaign which he politely declined for now. Liam and Zayn walked up to them shortly after, and then Harry walked in.

“Listen, just act like you know what people are talking about. Fit in as much as you can, and if anyone asks what you’re wearing tonight tell them it’s a Styles original.” Harry explained, everyone nodded and began to separate.

Niall headed for a group of woman and men to the far right of the front room, Zayn went to wardrobe and Liam followed, Harry was immediately tugged away from Louis by what Louis assumed was important men and woman based on the large, shimmering watches and necklaces they all wore.

Louis has never felt so out of his element before, which is insane. The guy is an assassin, he’s trained to fit into any situation yet he couldn’t do it with this one. He snuck a glass of Champaign off a tray, downing the glass and headed towards a group of men that looked rather chatty and out of place as well.

Louis tucked away every possible bad outcome coming to mind in the back of his head, and braced himself for second hand embarrassment.

“Lovely turn out tonight, eh lads?” He asked, they all nodded and introduced themselves. Small talk began quickly, Louis tried his best to pay attention but he was too focused on keep tabs on the others.

Harry approached him after about 10 minutes, saying hello to the group Louis was in and seeming much more stressed than he was on the carpet. Harry looked over to Louis, shaking his head slightly and turning his body towards the right of him.

Louis followed his body, watching to see where Harry was trying to get his point across. Zayn was already changed and out of wardrobe with Liam, both of them standing away from crowds and watching the same area as Harry was directing Louis towards. Niall excused himself from the group he was socializing with and headed towards Zayn and Liam, Louis felt completely out of the loop.

“Excuse me, gentlemen but I must go introduce Louis to a few more people. Hope you enjoy the show.” Harry said, his hand coming up to clasp Louis’ shoulder and guide him away towards the left of the room.

“Is there something I’m missing here or what?” Louis asked, and Harry smiled but let his face fall into a serous expression.

“On the far right of the room, there’s a group of 4 men. Two in black suits, one in white and one in a blue suit. Do not approach them by any means, let them come to you if anything.” Harry said, and Louis nodded, stealing a glance at the group.

Well. If Louis had Champaign in his mouth, he would’ve spit it everywhere.

“Oh fuck me.” Louis sighed, rubbing his temples.

“Please for the love of god do not tell me you have issues with them too.” Harry asked and Louis did a weak shrug and a lopsided smile.

“Weeeelll…. I mean, I _am_ an assassin. We don’t have a lot of friend’s, Harold. What the hell do you mean ‘with them _too_ ’ ?” Louis turned so that neither of their bodies would face the men.

Harry smirked, he had his shoulder leaning against the wall as Louis stood in front of him. The closeness wasn’t even noticed by the two of them, but having to whisper because people were crawling everywhere was a major inconvenience.

“I’m a hitman, and a wealthy one at that-“ Harry was cut off by Louis’ ringtone.

He slipped his phone out of his pocket, seeing that it was Jack he pulled Harry into the nearest coat room and shut the door behind them.

“Back in the closet, but with a man. This is different.” Louis joked, Harry let out a loud laugh but Louis shushed him and answered the call and put it on speaker.

“Jack, my favourite person! How’s life? Who’s trying to kill me?” Louis asked, Harry smacked his arm. “Ow! Dick. Harry’s here too.” Louis said and Harry mumbled a ‘hello’.

“Simon Cowell is at your event Harry, and I have insanely shitty news.” Jack said, and Louis nervously laughed.

“A man who hates us both, at an event where we’re both at, what else could be shittier?” Harry asked nervously, and Jack sighed.

“Louis, you took his fucking gold.” Louis and Harry looked up at each other at the same, eyes wide and mouths dropped open.

“No fooking way.” Harry said, any other time Louis would’ve mocked how the guy says ‘fucking’ but he was too shocked to give a shit.

“Yeah fucking way. He’s there, and I hope to god that his entourage doesn’t recognize you Louis because that whole place with become a shooting.” Jack sounded incredibly pissed, and Louis didn’t blame him at all.

Simon Cowell is one of the worst people to cross fires with when it comes to business, how the fuck was Louis supposed to know that was _his_ heist he screwed up? How was he supposed to know that he accidentally took Simons gold? Louis’ headache only grew worse.

“Well. I guess we’re winging the entire event because we can’t call it off.” Harry said, and Louis laughed.

“Wing it? Really? What’s he even doing here?” Louis asked, giving the phone to Harry so he could cross his arms.

“I wouldn’t fucking know! Just don’t get killed or let anyone get killed, got it?” Jack said and both boys answered quiet ‘yes’’ and hung up.

“Text Liam, get him and Zayn to distract him. Simon doesn’t know them, he only knows you and I. Once they have him out of sight, we need to move into the back behind the catwalk.” Harry said, and Louis nodded.

“You’re really bossy, you know that right?” Louis huffed, Harry just nodded and picked at the fringe on his scarf.  Louis quickly texted Liam, and smacked Harry’s hand away from his scarf.

“Stop, you’ll ruin it. We’re fine and this whole thing is going to go over just fine.” Louis said seriously, and Harry nodded timidly.

“I killed his main guy, his best friend. To him, his hate for me is personal. For you, you accidentally took some gold. He’s here for me, not for you Louis.” Harry said, looking down at his feet. Louis’ stomach twisted into knots, of course he felt bad for Harry.

Louis will be damned if this event turns into a shit show.

“Listen to me, you don’t know that for sure. I just fucked up this guys heist at the Royal bank of fucking England dude, I think we’re equally screwed. Let’s just go with it okay? Do what we do best.” Louis put on a brave face, and gave his (hopefully) encouraging speech the best that he could because well, he was only a little scared of the outcome.

Harry looked up from the floor, a genuine smile on his face as he patted the side of his waistband where his gun sat comfortably. Louis’ phone lit up with a text from Liam saying they had gotten Simon to the catering table in the other hall.

“Won’t it be suspicious if we walk out of a closet together?” Harry asked, and Louis glared.

“That’s seriously what’s on your mind right now?” Louis asked and Harry shot his hands up in defense and opened the door.

“Let me go first, walk on my right and try to shrink yourself you friggen amazon.” Louis whispered, walking out first as Harry stood by his side. The two of them walked quickly towards the show room with the catwalk, they made it to the back room without being noticed. Harry successfully declined everyone who tried to stop him, explaining that he had a fashion emergency to deal with.

Once they made it to the backroom, they were surprised to see Niall already there waiting for them. “Zayn texted me, what’s the plan?” He said quickly, holding onto his case.

“Take this key, it takes you to the balcony above us. No one can go up there without this, look for where Simon sits on the floor. We’ll avoid being seen as much as we can, just make sure you have a shot in case anything happens.” Harry said.

Niall nodded, putting in his ear piece then looking to Louis before taking off.

“I sure as hell hope you’re actually good at this shit like everyone says mate.” Was al he said before he took off out a back door. Louis sighed.

“If you need to shoot-“

“Don’t hesitate. Don’t hit anyone that’s not a target, if it’s possible to evacuate people, do it. I know.” Louis cut him off, taking the ear piece Harry held out for him and adjusting it comfortably.

“I was only going to add that you shouldn’t sit by me.” Harry said, putting his own ear piece in. Louis scoffed.

“You’re joking right?” Louis said in disbelief. Harry shook his head.

“No actually, I’m not. Once we find out where Simon sits, do your best to get a seat near him but in the back but with good enough range. I have to sit up front, if Niall loses him once, you at least have an advantage point.” Harry explained, a ding went off through the speakers.

Louis sent a quick text to Liam, telling him and Zayn to put their earpieces in quickly and to listen for Niall’s call.

**“20 minutes to walk ladies and gentlemen! Please take your seats!”**  The voice called over the P.A system. Harry wondered over to a mirror near by, taking off his hat and wrapping his scarf around in his mess of curls.

Louis adjusted his collar on his shirt, loosening it and unbuttoning the cuffs on his sleeves for easier movement. He and Harry looked at each other, then peaked behind the curtain. People were flooding into the room, but still had no sign of Simon or Liam and Zayn.

_“Psst! Look up and to your right. I’m above the stage, I can see everything from here”_ Niall’s voice rang through both of their ear pieces which meant both Zayn and Liam would get the message too.

Louis did a once over on Harry and headed out into the crowded room, aimlessly wandering around until he sees Simon sit. Harry had to stay backstage of course, because he is the one that has to introduce the show in the first place. Louis’ ear piece did a little beep, indicating a call was coming through. His posture became completely straight, and the entire room had his full attention.

“Zayn is heading backstage right now to your left and Liam is sitting at the end of the catwalk. Simon is on the right, there’s a few seats empty behind him. Get there without being seen.” Niall said, Louis gave a small thumbs up behind his back knowing that Niall could see him.

“It’s show time, boys.” Harry said through the ear piece in a hushed whisper.

**“Ladies and Gentlemen, the Styles fashion show!”**

Louis took a seat only two rows behind Simon with a good view of Liam, he couldn’t see Niall at all which is exactly what was supposed to happen. It wasn’t long before Harry stepped out on stage, introducing himself and thanking everyone. Louis kept his eyes glued to Simon, only glancing over to Liam a few times until his phone buzzed.

_Liam: We’ve got a problem._ Louis glanced around the room, not seeing anything really out of place as Harry walked back behind the curtain and the music began to play. ****_Louis: What is it?_  
  


_Liam: For an assassin, you’re pretty fucking blind. Simons entourage is scattered around the room, I told Niall. He’ll tell Zayn before he goes on and Harry knows._

Louis took one more look around the room, suddenly spotting the other men all sitting separately. Louis took a quick glance to the backstage area and saw Harry preparing to sit only a few seats down from Simon, Louis watched as Simon followed his every move into his seat. It made Louis want to puke.

**_Louis: You and Niall worry about his friend’s, I’ve got Simon, do NOT let anyone get hurt. Harry will try to shoot, but he can’t blow his cover like this and neither can Zayn. Only if it’s urgent._ **

Louis put his phone away and kept his hand resting on his thighs, sharing brief smiles with the people sitting around him. The show went on for the first 10 minutes, nothing happening besides everyone clapping. Simon would occasionally lean and glance down the aisle of seats and then look back to his men across the room.

Half an hour went by and it was only 5 minutes until intermission, Louis watched from behind as Simon began to fidget and shift in his seat.

_“He’s showing signs of anxiousness. Keep your eyes open lads, I don’t think we’re going to be lucky tonight.”_ Niall whispered through the headset. Louis gave Liam a curt nod from across the room.

Something was off about the room, time seemed to go by painfully slow. One of Simons men stood early, walking out of the room. Liam sat completely on the edge of his seat, glancing back slightly to see where he went.

Zayn was peaking from the backstage curtain, giving Harry a nod before going to sit down near him. It happened quickly, with one stern nod from Simon directed across the room as the announcer called intermission.

_“I’ve got eyes on the men, Louis- it’s all you if Simon signals.”_ Niall breathed heavily. It was impossible to ignore the tension in the room at this point.


	3. THREE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My condolences to the Tomlinson's, and to their family and friend's. Rest in peace Jay, your boy loved you very much. 
> 
> Both of my stories involve Jay, I will do whatever I can to write her character as best as I can and do her justice. 
> 
> I'm going to be writing a very happy Larry Christmas one shot over the next 2 weeks, in hopes of cheering some people up. Times are hard, but we all have to remember to smile :) 
> 
> My inbox is always open to whoever wishes to talk.

** THREE **

 

Within seconds of Simons nod, one of his men stood abruptly, whipping out his gun directed to Harry. Niall managed one quick snipe shot and he was down to the ground, and then the entire room turned into chaos. Security began rushing everyone out of the room, Louis kept his eyes on Simon as Liam chased after the other man. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the curtain on the balcony that Niall would’ve been behind, rustling and swaying drastically.

“Zayn, get to Niall!” Louis called out across the room, and swiftly jumping over chairs to walk directly behind Simon as he attempted to rush out of the room in the crowd. Harry was no where to be seen, and Louis wasn’t sure if he should be happy or worried.

Simon made a quick turn down a stockroom hallway and began to run, Louis quickly chased after him with his gun held forward. Louis caught up to Simon, tackling him down to the ground. The two men tossed and turned, pinning each other down until Louis got a hold of Simon’s throat and held him to the ground with his gun pointed at his temple.

“Why are you here?” Louis asked, and Simon spit at him. Louis hit Simon across the face once with his gun and held him down harder.

“Don’t fucking spit at me! what the hell man, tell me why the fuck you’re here!” Louis yelled, and Simon choked out a laugh as blood dripped from his lip.

“Louis, Louis Tomlinson. ‘S good to see you mate, been a long time.” Simon husked, his voice straining from the grip on his throat.

Louis could hear everyone still screaming, gun shots echoing through the building. He lifted Simon’s head by the throat slightly and slammed it back down onto the concrete. He did _not_ have time for jokes.

“I’m giving you one more fucking chance to tell me why you’re here.” Louis hissed, pressing the tip of his gun between Simon’s eyes.

“You know why! I’m just lucky the two of you are together, makes it easier.” Simon grunted, spitting blood out of his mouth and accidentally- or purposely- getting some on Louis’ suit.

_“Louis where the fuck did you go?”_ Niall’s voice sounded through his earpiece, he was out of breath and almost choking on his words.

“Stockroom hallway.” Louis said, and looked down to his now stained suit and back at Simon. Louis put his gun on his lap, still holding Simon’s throat and punched him as hard as he could in the face.

“Do you have any fucking clue how expensive this suit probably is?” He asked and Simon laughed.

“It’s!” Louis yelled, slamming his fist down. _Crunch._

“A fucking!” Tunnel vision. That’s all it was to Louis anymore. _Another harsh crunch._

“Styles!” He was sure his voice could be heard all over. _Crack._

“Original!” Louis slammed his fist down once more, grabbed his gun and held it to Simon’s head again.

Simon was fucking immortal or some shit because he was still smiling, breathing, and sputtering out blood.

“Why wont you fucking pass out or something, Jesus Christ!” Louis huffed. Loud footsteps echoed through the hallway, Harry came running with his blazer somehow gone, his hair everywhere and blood dripping at the side of his head near his ear.

“Louis we have to go. Now.” Harry said, coming up to Louis and pulling him off Simon.

Louis looked down at Simon who was pushing himself backwards to lean against the wall behind him, Louis quickly swooped down and grabbed the gun out from his jacket and leaned down once more.

“Tell me exactly why you’re here, I know you have my jewels.” Louis hissed, noticing a little bit of blood gathering in his mouth from his fight. He looked down and spit at Simon, Simon cringed away in disgust.

“Yeah! It’s not fucking pleasant is it!” Louis said, Harry was trying to pry Louis off Simon.

“I do. But it’s not just the jewels. Say, do you think your sister would know how to get the stain out of this shirt?” Simon snickered. Louis grabbed either side of Simons head, slamming it against the wall behind him.

“You wouldn’t’ve” Louis said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, but I did. The gold isn’t enough to get your sister back, figure it out. Times ticking.” Simon warned, Harry grabbed Louis off Simon and dragged him outside as the sirens became louder.

The two boys ran towards a back door, Zayn and Liam were holding Niall up between them, blood turning Niall’s white dress shirt a dark, sticky red. All of them began hurrying out the back door into a parking lot, sirens blared through the city streets and panic surged through Louis’ veins.

“How the fuck are we getting out of here we don’t have a car!” Louis asked, and Liam groaned.

“All that car hopping in high school and _this_ is the time you forget about it.” Liam huffed, adjusting Niall upright on his side. Louis clued in, going up to Harry and ripping his scarf off his head and wrapped it around his gun and hand and ran towards one of the abandoned SUVs from tonight’s event.  He smashed the window out, quickly unlocking the car and began hotwiring it. Zayn and Liam helped Niall lay in the middle seats and climbed into the back while Harry rode shotgun.

Louis drove as quickly as he could, even though he truly had no idea where to go. It’s not like they could just turn up to a hospital considering they were a part of the shooting in the first place. Niall was groaning in pain, Liam was on the phone, Zayn was keeping his hands pressed on the wound, and Harry was mulling over everything that just went down.

“Is anyone going to tell me where the fuck we go from here?” Louis yelled, and Harry shot daggers at him.

“Not the time to be a dick, just chill out okay?” Harry argued, and Louis laughed. Sounding sinister and bitter, _could you blame him?_

“Chill out? Not be a dick? Sorry _boss_ but we’ve got one of _your_ men ready to bleed out in the backseat of a STOLEN fucking car! Let’s not forget that Simon’s got one of my bloody _sisters!_ Can’t blame me for wondering what the hell we’re supposed to do.” Louis yelled, and was hit in the arm by a weak swat of a hand.

“Zayn wasn’t seen shooting, drop me and him off at the hospital. No one will know a thing, just say I got stuck in the cross fire.” Niall said, coughing and sputtering as he spoke.

“But we can’t just-“

“Get this fucking vest off me, take anything I have on me and drop us at the front door for fuck sakes Louis.” Niall hissed, “Wanker.” Louis sighed and took the next left to the hospital.

Vest off, weapons discarded, Zayn helped Niall up to the front doors as the others drove away. Silence took over the vehicle, no one was really sure what to do _now_.

“I talked to Jack, he wasn’t very happy.” Liam said, cutting into the silence.

“Well no shit, another fuck up-“

“Wasn’t happy because someone got hurt. Could give less of a fuck about it being a mess, Louis. It’s not always about the mission at hand.” Liam snapped back, leaving Louis speechless.

Louis was pissed, not even because of Liam snapping but because Liam was right. Liam was _always_ right, and Liam was always the one to be the more responsible and compassionate one. Of course Louis was worried for Niall, but he obviously couldn’t just drop him at the ER without putting the rest of them at risk- it’s not like they were working for the government to protect, they were all just a bunch of underground killers. _Killers._ Louis stopped the car on the side of the road.

“Louis what the hell are you doing?” Harry asked, and Louis shushed him as he dialed a number on his phone, praying for an answer.

“Hello?”

“ _Fizz!_ Fuck, okay for the love of god tell me you’re okay?” Louis asked, bracing himself for her to ask him what’s going on.

“What? Yeah Lou, I’m fine. What’s going on?” Fizzy asked, Louis rested his elbows against the steering wheel and put his head in his hands.

“Fizz, I’ve gotta come see you. We need to talk about something.” Louis sighed, he could feel himself getting weaker- his eyes brimming with tears but his damn ego not letting him.

“Lou- I don’t understand? I’m at mine if you want to pop by…” Fizzy responded, quietly. Louis sucked in a sharp breath, nodding to himself.

“I’ll be there shortly, Liam’s with me and so is Harry. You don’t know him, but you’re going to.” Louis said, and they exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

Liam of course, knew who Fizzy was to Louis but Harry didn’t have a clue. Harry sat confused as Louis pulled off the side of the road and did a U-turn in the middle of the street. Harry wasn’t dumb, he could see that whoever Fizzy was, she was important and he wasn’t about to be a dick.

“May I ask who Fizzy is?” Harry asked quietly, treading lightly.

“She’s one of my sister’s, I know which one Simon took now- and I need Fizzy’s help.” Louis said, and Harry nodded silently.

“So, Simon has Lottie then?” Liam asked from the backseat, Harry watched as Louis’ knuckles turned white on the steering wheel and his jaw clench.

“I believe so, he wouldn’t go for the twins.” Louis replied, and that was the end of that conversation.

 

Louis pulled up to a small brick house just out of the city, remembering the bitter-sweet moment when Fizzy moved out and into this comfortable house by herself. Fizzy explaining that she needed to be on her own, and had saved up enough money from her internship and side jobs throughout college, Louis was so proud of her.

Louis didn’t say anything as he stepped out of the car, Liam followed behind him as did Harry. Without knocking, Louis opened the front door and was greeted by a short, long brown haired girl dressed in a pair of leggings and a baggy sweater. She latched onto Louis in a heartbeat, crushing him into a hug and sneaking a glance at Harry and Liam over Louis’ shoulder before pulling away from him. Fizzy practically shoved Louis out of the way, moving on to hug Liam tightly and then stood to face Harry.

“You must be Harry, then?”

“Fizzy, this this Harry.” Louis introduced the two of them, Harry held out a hand to shake Fizzy’s and then she lead them into the living room. Each of them took a seat, Louis sat close to Fizzy on the couch while Liam and Harry chose a recliner each.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush with this one Fizz, but I need you to let me explain without getting pissed or cutting me off okay?” Louis said sternly, Fizzy huffed but nodded. Harry could see the worry in her eyes, and his heart hurt for her.

“You do remember what I told you a long time ago, the secret we had to keep from mum right? About what I do.” Louis asked, and Fizzy nodded.

“I know I told you I stopped for a year, but money got tight and jobs came up-“

“Lou-“

“Listen, before I get into the deep shit I have to say I’m sorry. I know I promised you I would stop, but I couldn’t. Once you’re in a business like this, you can’t exactly back out unless you manage to fall off the face of the earth. I couldn’t do that to mum and you and the rest of the family- so I took my options.” Louis explained, biting back the hurt in his voice as he looked down to Fizzy who was noticeably choking up.

Liam stood, gesturing for Harry to follow. “We’ll make tea, and I need a smoke. Excuse us.” Liam said, and Harry followed him out of the room, leaving Fizzy and Louis alone.

“Shouldn’t we be in there, moral support or something?” Harry asked, and Liam sighed, shaking his head.

“Trust me when I say you do not ever, and I mean _ever_ want to see a Tomlinson cry, it’s heartbreaking. Leave them be.” Liam said, and then they were out of sight.

“Louis, what’s going on?” Fizzy asked, her hand reaching out to grab Louis’ for a sign of stability as Louis took a deep breath.

“I fucked up a heist, Fizz. Big time, and I have something they want- and they have 2 things that I want- no, _need_.” Fizzy looked as confused as ever.

“So, just give them back what they want from you?” Fizzy said, and Louis laughed dryly. _If only it was that easy, kid_.

“You are so _not_ going to like this Fizzy, and I don’t blame you for whatever you decide to after this.” Louis said, and Fizzy jerked her hand away from him and stood.

“You said you wouldn’t beat around the bush, now tell me what in bloody hell is going on!” She shouted, standing her ground. Louis stood to face her, he couldn’t be a coward when he’s supposed to be the role model.

“The boss of the heist I fucked up- I’ll spare you the details for now, but long story short. I have his gold, he has my jewels and _hehaslottie_.” Louis hushed the ending of his sentence, Fizzy’s eyes went wide.

“Come again, Louis?” Fizzy said through gritted teeth, stepping forward as Louis backed up slightly.

“Fucking hell, he has Lottie.” Louis said, and Fizzy stared at him blankly, Louis was sure of what was about to happen- she _was_ his sister, after all.

_Crack_.

Louis expected nothing less than a swift punch to the face, and he certainly wasn’t surprised that Fizzy didn’t even wince as her fist came in contact right with Louis’ jaw.

Louis robbed the sore spot, not taking his eye’s off Fizzy as he nodded. He understood.

“You swore you’d never let your business come back to family Louis, you fucking promised!” Fizzy yelled, and began pacing around the room.

“I didn’t even think he knew I had a fucking family! I don’t even know how he would’ve gotten her! The heist happened just this morning Fizz, he’s like 50 fucking steps ahead of me already. I don’t know what to do, I met Harry in the fucking cab because his stubborn ass wouldn’t get out when I warned him, turns out he’s a fucking part time hitman apart from being a god damn fashion designer!” Louis was stumbling over words, stuttering and pulling at his hair as he began to pace around the room.

“We went to some fucking event tonight for Harry’s work, it all turned into a mess because Simon was there, Niall got shot- Zayn’s with him at the hospital, obviously Liam’s involved now too- Jack, my boss is even lost now” Louis said, sighing.

Fizzy stood still finally, looking down at her feet as she soaked up everything Louis just told her. She didn’t need the details, not now. She sighed heavily.

“Now, you can kick me out- I’ll get Lottie back don’t worry, but you needed to know in case anything was to happen. Mum can’t know, and I’m seriously so sorry. I- I know you’re closest with Lottie, you can hate-“

“What can I do to help?” Fizzy cut Louis off, and Louis stood in shock.

“You- What? No, you can’t be involved Fizz it’s not, it’s not safe.” Louis said, immediately shutting her down but earned another hit to the face. _Welp, that’s my sister._ Louis reminded himself.

“I’m a god damn honour student in computer sciences and I’ve worked with some of the shadiest hackers in my short time I’ve been alone. You can’t tell me I can’t be involved when you’ve just told me everything. There has to be something I can put my fucking talents to work with.” Fizzy said seriously, and Louis nodded.

“You may be onto something.” Harry’s voice chimed in, stepping into the living room with Liam and a tray of mugs with fresh tea steaming from them.

“How the fuck is her being a possible hacker going to help us?” Louis asked, and Fizzy laughed with Harry.

“If we could find a way to get a GPS onto Simon or one of his men, she could be our eyes. Surely you’ve got a set up if you’re a computer kid, yeah?” Harry asked, and Fizzy nodded- gesturing them to follow her down a hallway.

Surely enough, there was a large desk facing a wall that held 3 large TV screens hooked up to one massive computer. Two keyboards sat on the desk, and multiple hard drives were set on top of the desk as well. Louis stood in surprise.

“Jesus fuck, Fizzy! Are you sure you’re not one of the hackers?” Louis asked, he expected Fizzy to defend herself but she shrugged and sat in the swivel chair at the desk.

“You’re not the only one in this family with a secret, Louis.” She said, turning on her set up and gestured for everyone to gather around.

“If you can get a GPS on them, I’ve got everything covered here. I built this entire system myself, it can do magic.” Fizzy explained, Louis noticed that the TV screen on the right had 6 different camera angles showing the outside and inside of Fizzy’s house. He was impressed, and slightly intimidated- _he_ was supposed to be the baddass one of the family, not his little sister for god’s sake.

“Fizzy, this is incredible.” Liam complimented, he always looked at any of Louis’ siblings as if they were his own. Louis was thankful for a friend like him.

Harry gave Fizzy his full attention for the next half an hour as she talked about school, how she built the set up- he was asking questions and seemed genuinely interested in hearing her talk about her passion. He would make comments like _“that’s so good.” “you’ve done a remarkable job Fizzy.” “We wont be able to do this without you.”_  But the one that stood out to him the most was one that he was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear, but he did.

_“I don’t know your brother at all, but I know he didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I hope you find it in you to forgive him, because my sister never did- and it’s a burden you can never part with.” Harry said, downhearted as his voice cracked the slightest as if he was replaying the memory as he spoke of it._

_Fizzy stood, placing a hand on Harry’s shoulder and nodded- she always had an understanding for anyone in a tough situation._

_“It will take time, but I know he never meant for any of this to happen. I hope your sister finds it in her to forgive you, maybe one day I could meet her.” Fizzy smiled, giving Harry’s shoulder a tight squeeze before leading them out to join Louis and Liam in the kitchen._

Fizzy offered up the guest room and couch to the boys at dinner, Louis and Liam agree to sharing the guest bed and Harry took the offering of the pullout couch. They all sat around the small dining table, eating the takeout they had ordered from town. Small talk was made between everyone, keeping conversation as light as they could until everyone was cut off by Liam’s phone ringing.

“It’s Zayn!” Liam said, hurrying to answer the call and putting it on speaker.

“Hey, you’re on speaker. How’s Niall?” Liam asked, and Zayn huffed.

“The little shits ready to get back to work, the bullet didn’t hit anything important. He’ll just have lots of bruising and muscle pain, but he’s gotta stay over night just so they can keep track of his blood pressure.” Zayn explained, it seems like everyone let out a breath they were holding- even Fizzy.

“Thank god, mate tell him we’ll come see him tomorrow morning. We’re all staying at my sister’s place for the night. We’ll have to fill you in tomorrow-“ Louis said.

“Or I can, tonight? I was hoping to borrow Fizzy’s car to go back into town, grab everyone some clothes. Zayn could slip out and get you some, Harry?” Liam offered, seeming awfully determined to go out. Louis knew, so he nodded.

“S’fine by me, keys are on the hook by the door.” Fizzy said, and Liam thanked her.

“Get me anything you’re grabbing for yourself, but bring me my damn tooth brush and comb, oh and my green Adidas sweater!” Louis rushed out, watching as Liam still had Zayn on speaker but was already putting his shoes on at the door.

“Tell Zayn to have Jade gather up my stuff, she knows what to get!” Harry quickly added as Liam waved them goodbye.

“Then there was three.” Louis said, leaning back in his seat at the table and Fizzy laughed.

“Two, actually. You boys are on dish duty, no arguments. I need to shower, busy day tomorrow. Night!” Fizzy said, skipping off upstairs, leaving Louis and Harry to sit in an uncomfortable silence. Louis stood, gathering plates and Harry followed along.

Louis washed while Harry dried, Louis hummed a tune to himself to keep it from being a dead silence besides the clanging of dishes.

“Dancing Queen, really?” Harry asked, amusement in his tone.

“Can never go wrong with Abba in a tense situation.” Louis smirked, almost dropping a cup as Harry let out a loud laugh.

“Never heard of someone having Abba as a safety blanket, this is new.” Harry said, drying the cup and setting it aside.

“What’s yours?” Louis asked, he didn’t mean to ask but it just kinda happened. Harry thought for a moment, drying his hands off as he realized the dishes were done.

“It’s pretty lame, wouldn’t want to make an ass out of myself more than I already have.” Harry said, “Do you know where she keeps sheets or blankets? Kind of need to set up camp on the couch.” Harry quickly changed the subject, moving around Louis but Louis wasn’t giving up.

“Mate, Abba is my safety blanket. Can’t be any worse, and they’re probably in the hall closet, one second.” Louis hurried off, gathering a fluffy throw blanket, a sheet and a pillow and made his way back to the living room where Harry had already pulled out the bed.

They began working together, setting up the bed. Each of them taking corners of the sheet, stretching it over to mattress and stuffing couch pillows into the sides that the bars of the bed frame peaked out. They both took a seat on the end of it, Louis fell down to his back and stared up at the ceiling.

“I heard what you said to my sister, about yours. I’m sorry.” Louis finally said, and Harry huffed sadly, still sitting up.

“I didn’t ask to be a hitman, and I made the same promise to my sister that you made with Fizzy. My father’s to blame, but I’d rather not lay anything heavy on the table tonight.” Harry spoke quietly, shifting as he toed of his shoes.

“Fair enough mate. And I’m sorry, for being a bit of an ass in the car.” Louis said, flinching as Harry dropped onto his back beside Louis.

“Don’t be, you were right for thinking ahead. We all could’ve been in huge trouble if you didn’t ask the question.” Harry admitted, “Plus, I was the right twat. Should’ve let you kill Simon when you had the chance.” Louis laughed, peaking to his side and meeting Harry’s gaze with a smirk.

“We’d never have a chance at finding Lottie if I did, you stopped me from committing murder- even though it’s my job.” Louis said, and this time Harry huffed out a laugh and shook his head.

“What a fucking mess this field of work creates, eh? Couldn’t just work in a factory, had to sign your life away to ruin other’s.” Harry said, turning his gaze back to the roof.

“Gotta remember, we technically aren’t _always_ the bad guys. Majority rules, we kill more bad guys than the government. I say we win this time.” Louis said, feeling a sense of relief as Harry nodded in agreement. Louis’ phone buzzed in his pocket.

**_Liam: I’m outside, come get your shit. I’m gonna stay with Zayn at the hospital for a bit and do some research with Jack._ **

“Liam’s here, he’s going back to the hospital for a bit. Let’s grab our shit” Louis said, getting up as Harry huffs.

“I just got comfy, Louis.” Harry said, sprawling out on the bed. Louis rolled eyes.

“Just this once, will I ever do anything for you.” Louis said, stepping out the front door and hearing a sing-song _thank you!_ From Harry.

Louis stepped outside, thankful for it only being a little breezy on this summer night as he walked up to the car.

“I’ll be back in the morning, tell Fizzy I’ll fill the tank for her.” Liam said while Louis opened one of the back doors and grabbed his red Adidas duffle bag and then a YSL bag, which he knew had to have been Harry’s.

“Oh- mate, that ones mine.” Zayn said from the passenger seat, and then pointed to another duffle bag. It was black with a white smoke pattern on it, and the big ass logo-

“Nike, some brand rivalry will come out of this I’m sure.” Louis laughed at his own joke, swinging both bags over his shoulders.

“So, you wont be back tonight then? Gonna leave me with my sister and a man I met in a cab today?” Louis asked, and Liam nodded while Zayn chuckled.

“Harry might be hitman, but he’s soft as shit. The guy has a butterfly tattoo, if you’re really worried- give him wine. He’ll pass out after the second glass.” Zayn teased, giving Louis a quick fist bump and then Liam doing the same.

“Night lads, see you in the morning.” Louis bid them goodbye, waving them out of the driveway.


	4. FOUR.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updates are slow due to holidays! Quite busy around here these days, hope you enjoy :)

** FOUR **

 

Louis walked back into the house, dropping Harry’s bag onto the floor beside his pullout bed. Harry was quick to dig through the bag, grabbing his essentials and some pajamas. Louis ran upstairs to drop his bag off in the spare room, he took a long look at himself in the mirror. He hated what he saw.

His hair that was perfectly slicked up, was now in a tousled mess- Louis was surprised there wasn’t any grey hairs standing out yet. He had dark bags under his eyes making him look like he hadn’t slept in weeks, his cheek bones looked more prominent than he remembered- when was the last time he ate a proper meal? There was little speckles of blood dried on his face from the hard punches he gave Simon, he then looked down at his hands.

Dried blood coated his fingers, some from Simon’s face and some from the scrapes on his knuckles from hitting Simon’s teeth, dark purple bruises already beginning to show. His dress shirt was missing buttons from the little scrap he and Simon had when he tackled him to ground, the jacket for his suit went from ironed perfectly and snug on his waist- to a wrinkled, loose mess. He quickly discarded the jacket, tossing it to the floor in the corner. He shucked off the dress shirt as well, tossing it down to the ground and looked back into the mirror.

Harry’s tall frame was in the reflection of the mirror, his hand in a fist getting ready to knock but stopped when he saw that Louis noticed him. Louis turned around, wincing as his knuckles dragged over his pants.

“You alright?” Harry asked, whispering as he stood in the doorway a little more. Louis nodded, holding his hands out.

“Stings a bit, bastard has got some heavy duty teeth.” Louis sighed, noticing that Harry was dressed in a pair of black track pants and a plain grey t-shirt. Harry laughed a little at Louis’ attempt of a joke, but his face didn’t turn upward from a frown.

“Want some help? I was just gonna ask you where the bathroom was anyway, need to wash my face and stuff.” Harry said, shrugging and motioning to the little bag he was holding. Louis would’ve waved anyone else off who offered to clean up a mess he made, he would’ve laughed and made some snide joke about someone mocking his strength. His hands hurt, he was tired and that damn headache never went away.

“If you don’t mind, just uh- follow me?” Louis said, then paused. “Wait, mind if I just switch to some trackies?” He asked and Harry nodded, excusing himself and shutting the door behind him. The more Louis curled his hands into a fist, the more he winced. Louis slipped on his track pants and an old t-shirt, meeting Harry in the hallway and leading him further into the house to the bathroom.

It was a pretty tight fight, there was only one big mirror and one sink, a tub/shower and then the toilet. Harry gestured for Louis to take a seat on the edge of the tub while he looked in the cupboard for a first aid kit, Louis took a seat and waited. Harry finally found some rubbing alcohol, ointment, gauze and tape and began wetting a wash cloth with warm water.

Harry turned around, holding his hand out for Louis to place his on top. Louis hissed at the contact of the cloth when Harry dabbed at the cuts. “’S always the little ones that hurt like a bitch.” Harry mumbled, Louis looked up to Harry and smiled.

“Got that right- Oh hell no” Louis said, snatching his hands back as Harry grabbed the spray bottle of rubbing alcohol. Harry cocked a hip to the side, frowning.

“Dude, it’ll sting for like 5 seconds. You seriously wanna risk an infection? That mans been places we don’t wanna know about, and now his germs are on you.” Harry argued, he sat on the floor with his back against the counter and pulled Louis’ hands to rest on his knees. Louis groaned, closing his eyes. “I’ll count to 3, okay?” Harry said, and Louis nodded.

He didn’t count to three.

He didn’t even count at all, actually. Just took the bull by the horns and sprayed the living hell out of Louis’ hand. Louis was quick to dig his nails into Harry’s knee, “I’m not usually this much of a wimp but _fuck_ is anyone ever okay when they have to use this shit?” Louis huffed. Harry waited for the rubbing alcohol to stop fizzing on Louis’ knuckles before pulling Louis up to his feet and shoving his hands under the warm water to rinse them.

Harry quickly dried off Louis’ hands, dabbed them with ointment and covered them with gauze and medical tape, finishing with a proud grin. “You’re all set. However, you’ve still got blood on your face.” Harry said, already grabbing a new cloth to run under the warm water and handed it to Louis.

Louis sat up on the counter beside the sink, not bothering to use the mirror as he wiped the warm cloth over his face. Harry began scrubbing his own face, using some fancy face wash and using the tap like he was in one of those Dove commercials to rinse. The two of them shared the sink to brush their teeth and somewhat tame their hair.

“You can shower in the morning if you want, I’m definitely going to.” Louis offered.

“Thank god, I feel so gross.” Harry sighed, putting some deodorant on. Louis ignored the sight of Harry’s mid drift in the reflection of the mirror as best he could, except he noticed the two large leaf tattoos placed on hips as he stared a little longer than he planned.

The two of them finished up in the bathroom, shuffling around each other to clean up the mess they made and gathered up their things. Harry looked like a lost puppy, and Louis only felt a little bad for the guy. Okay, maybe a lot.

“You tired?” Louis asked, and Harry shrugged as he followed Louis out of the bathroom and down the hall. Harry hesitated as Louis stepped to the left and into his room, Louis dropped his things onto the dresser and then headed down the stairs with Harry following.

“Cat got your tongue mate?” Louis asked as he flicked the kettle on. Harry took a seat in the dining room at the table, staring at his hands that were folded in front of him. He snapped his head up to Louis, offering a soft smile and then shaking his head before turning his face back down to his hands.

Louis fixed up some tea and brought one over to Harry, sitting down across from him with his one foot propped up on the chair next to him. He wasn’t blind, he knew something was wrong with Harry but he seemed fine in the bathroom so Louis was too busy thinking of what could’ve happened from there, to here. He came up short, so he let out an overexaggerated sigh.

“Tell me your troubles, kid.” Louis tried his best burly, American bartender voice as he slid the mug across the table to Harry. His face lit up a bit at Louis’ failed attempt of an American accent.

“It’s nothing really.” Harry lied, Louis tilted his head with a knowing look and Harry sighed. “Got a text, not a pleasant one.” Harry said, and louis nodded slowly.

“What was it?” He asked, and Harry sat up a bit straighter and held his mug.

“It was from my ex, usual bullshit.” Harry sighed, pulling his phone out. “Saw what happened at the event on the news already. Hope you’re okay, if you need a shoulder I’m here. X O X O, Nick.” Harry read, and Louis wasn’t really sure what to say.

“So, are you upset about the news? Or him texting you? Because he sounded pretty nice at least.” Louis asked, and Harry let out a sarcastic snort.

“He’s one of those guys that only gives a shit about you when things are going wrong so he can try to get his dick in you. You know? Goes for the vulnerable ones.” Harry explained, and now it was Louis’ turn to snort.

“Fuckin hate those guys, couldn’t give a shit when you were together but once they see your life crashing without them they try to swoop in and play the hero?” Louis said, shaking his head and then sipped his tea. Harry nodded vigorously as he gulped down his own sip of tea, eyes wide.

“Exactly! Like _fuck off mate!_ ” Harry said, placing his phone down on the table. Louis glanced at the phone and back to Harry with a raised eyebrow and Harry shook his head quickly. Louis only smirked, taking the phone and opening the text.

“Lou- don’t ! It wont work, he doesn’t stop trying. No matter how much I tell him to fuck off, or change numbers.” Harry protested, trying to reach over and take the phone from Louis’ but failed.

“I’m a pro at this shit Harold, let me take care of it.” Louis said, shooing Harry’s grabby hands away until Harry stood up and made his way around the table and sat on the other chair beside Louis that wasn’t holding up his feet. Louis was leaned to the side, phone close to his chest as he typed, ignoring Harry’s mumbles and how close he was leaning over his shoulder to peek. Louis typed quickly, pressing send and then tucking the phone into his pocket.

“Wha- Louis! Give that back! I wanna see what you said.” Harry argued, his arms coming around Louis to try and grab the phone.

“Whoa! Gettin’ a little close there, besides you don’t need to know. If it’s gonna make you sad as hell then I’m keeping your damn phone, lets go watch a movie.” Louis offered, but Harry was still tangled around him from behind and Louis kind of liked it.

Louis didn’t feel like he was just in a shoot out a few hours ago, his knuckles didn’t hurt nearly as much as they did before, and he was in a cozy house instead of his empty apartment in town. Louis felt sort of like a teenager again, especially with how he and Harry were acting right now. Play fighting, Louis fighting off pricks for him as if he was his best mate, willing to stay up and watch a movie with Harry because he knows Harry wont sleep tonight. Louis skipped off into the living room, Harry tackling him onto the bed still fighting to get his phone back.

Louis was doing his best to keep up his manly attitude but the hushed giggles he was letting out were ruining that. He couldn’t help it, the more Harry poked and pushed at Louis’ sides and legs to get his phone, the giddier Louis got. Plus, he could see that Harry was enjoying himself too. He was no longer that _‘I’m the boss, I run a million dollar clothing company, I eat $100 bills for breakfast and kill men after the street lights go out’_ Harry was crinkly eyed, scrunching his nose, blowing his hair out of his face, cheeks just as red as Louis.

“Alright, alright! Truce, let a man breath!” Louis huffed, his body going limp once Harry stopped putting up a fight and collapsed sort of on top of him. Harry fell face first into the pile of pillows beside Louis’ head with the rest of his body draped across Louis. “Jesus, mate I can’t get the damn remote with you laying on me!” Louis pinched Harry’s side, causing Harry to eagerly crawl off him with a squeak of protest.

“What kind of movie do you want Haz?” Louis asked, propping himself up on a few pillows and dragging the blanket across his bare feet. Harry crawled up a bit away from Louis, laying on his side, pulling the blanket up to his waist.

“Haz? That’s new. And uhm, something funny? Preferably without violence… Don’t really wanna think of that stuff right now.” Harry shied away, looking away from Louis and at the TV. It was cute, really. How Harry’s hair was messily hanging around his face, blanket tucked up to him and how he looked incredibly cozy. This grown-ass-man-child was going to be the death of Louis if Simon didn’t get to him first.

“Haz it is then, how about Zootopia? Fizzy rated it 5 stars. It’s gotta be good then.” Louis offered, and Harry nodded happily. _Why the fuck am I doing this?_ Louis thought to himself. He couldn’t care though, if watching some kids cartoon movie was a safe call then he didn’t have to think twice on clicking play because Harry gave up on the phone, stopped being sad and finally seemed relaxed.

“You don’t have to do this, you know. Like, you can go to bed or whatever.” Harry mumbled, Louis shushed him and settled into the bed a bit further. It was silent for the first few minutes of the movie, the two of them surprisingly paying attention until Harry spoke up again.

“Hey, Louis?’ Harry whispered. Louis turned his head down to look at Harry who wasn’t looking back at him as his eyes were fixed on the TV. “Hmm?” Louis replied.

“Are you okay? Earlier, in your room- you looked, I- I don’t know. Disappointed.” Harry said quietly, taking a glance up at Louis. Louis gave him his best, reassuring smile.

“’S fine, just didn’t like what I saw. It’s weird, never really gave a shit about it any other time. Guess it’s cause it’s personal now that he has Lottie.” Louis responded in a whisper. Harry nodded sadly, pulling the blanket up so it covered Louis a bit more.

“We’ll get her back, I promise.” Harry had a determined look on his face when Louis looked down at him. Louis’ mind was laughing at him though. _Don’t make promises you can’t keep!_ His mind was yelling at him, but somewhere in Louis’ heart and gut was telling him otherwise. Telling him to believe Harry, to believe in himself that he can get Lottie back. But, Louis was a guarded man at best so he went with his mind.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Haz.” Louis said softly, Harry let out a huff.

“I never do.” Harry said, pulling a hand out from under the blanket to grasp at Louis’ forearm. “We’ll get her back.” Harry repeated, his eyes not leaving Louis’. Louis bit his bottom lip, eyes threatening to pool with tears again if he spoke so he just nodded and slid even further down into the bed, attempting to hide his face by pulling the blanket up to his chin. Harry slowly removed his hand a few minutes after, Louis missed the warmth.

Halfway through the movie, Louis jumped as he felt Harry’s phone vibrate in his pocket. “Shit, forgot about this thing.” Louis said, he checked it and saw that it was a reply from Nick. Louis tried to contain his giggles, which caught Harry’s attention.

“Can I please see what you said to him? I wont even be mad!” Harry said, and Louis finally gave in and nodded. Harry immediately scooted closer to Louis, so close that his chin was propped on Louis’ shoulder to read the text Louis sent to him first.

**Not a scratch on me. Don’t need a shoulder. Don’t need to waste my time anymore either, gotta go. Louis wants to watch 50 shades of grey with me.**

Harry barked out a laugh, slapping a hand over his reddening face to keep quiet. Louis smirked, looking down to Harry who was almost in tears- it really wasn’t that funny, but Louis didn’t mind.

“What’d he say back?” Harry whispered, and Louis held the screen up to Harry’s face.

**_Who the fuck is Louis? Why did you gag when I asked you to watch it with me? Fuck you, man._ **

Harry stayed quiet, a huge grin across his face as he looked up to Louis who was also smirking. “So, who am I?” Louis asked, and Harry took the phone back and began typing. Louis let out a cackle as soon as he saw Harry click send.

**None of your business. I’m sure you’d like to fuck me, but that’s his job now. Bye!**

Louis blushed, taking the phone from Harry again and putting it on silent before placing it on the table beside the bed. “Get any more vivid and he’ll start asking for proof on snapchat” Louis said, and Harry giggled. He didn’t move his face off Louis’ shoulder though, and Louis just assumed he was a cuddly guy. They continued watching the movie, laughing at parts together, arguing over certain scenes and suddenly all adult-like-behaviours were gone.

Louis felt like his 18-year-old self again, anytime they laughed a little too loud he’d worry about Fizzy coming downstairs to scold them or to tell them to go to bed like his mother used to. He wishes life was this simple again, some part of him had hope that it could go back to normal after they find Lottie. Louis was almost positive he couldn’t do this anymore, it was too close of a call.

Harry still hadn’t moved form Louis’ shoulder, and actually hadn’t moved at all in general. Louis was pretty sure Harry was dead, on his shoulder and was terrified to move. Louis turned the volume down on the TV, listening for a sign of breathing and sighed with relief when he heard little breaths from beside him. Except now he had a sleeping man on his shoulder and really didn’t know what to do.

 _He’s gonna get a sore neck sleeping like that. What if he weirds himself out when he wakes up? What if I have to pee? I definitely have to pee now._ Louis argued back and forth with himself for a solid 5 minutes because deciding to nudge Harry’s chest and poke at his arm. Harry woke with a bit of a startle, completely disoriented from his short snooze.

“Shit- did I fall asleep on you?” Harry mumbled, his voice hoarse and raspy already. Louis was dead inside.

“Well, you just woke up… On my shoulder, so yes. You did.” Louis teased, Harry shifted so that he was off Louis’ shoulder and let his head fall down onto a pillow nearby.

“Sorry, again. ‘S pretty comfy.” Harry said, and Louis smiled.

“Probably would’ve let you stay there but I’ve gotta piss and you’d probably wake up with your neck stuck sideways.” Harry nodded understandingly, his eyes still droopy and sleepy.

Louis stretched, every bone in his body popping and cracking, Harry cringed at the sound. “Want anything while I’m up? Fizzy’s got some water bottles if you’d like.” Louis offered, Harry shook his head.

“I’m alright, thanks. You headin’ off to bed now then?” He asked quietly, and Louis nodded.

“Only got a few more hours till we’re back to work, might as well got some rest while we can, right?” Louis smiled sadly, Harry hummed in response and curled himself into the bed and blanket more.

“If you’re up before me in the morning, just come get me. Fizzy will probably sleep in.” Louis said, grabbing himself a water and heading towards the stairs, looking back at Harry.

“Go to bed, Lou.” Harry smiled softly, Louis nodded timidly.

“Right, yeah. Uhm, goodnight.” Louis said, giving a small wave and hurrying up the stairs. He heard a quiet _“goodnight”_ behind him as he went, shuffling into his room quietly and flopping onto the bed.

“What the fuck am I gonna do?” Louis asked himself, laying in bed and staring at the ceiling.

It took him a while of just laying in bed, shuffling, mumbling, adjusting pillows and whatnot before he finally relaxed. Sleep eventually came, not as quick as he wished but his eyes fluttered shut as he clutched onto a pillow, letting sleep take over his tired body.

 

**_The next morning_ ** **.**

_“She’s just a kid man, let her go.” Louis sobbed, hunched over on the floor with blood dripping from god knows where on his face and his hands held behind his back with zip ties._

_“You should’ve quit this job a long time ago, Louis.” Simon said, walking over to Lottie who was held back by two men. He could see the bruises on his little sister’s face, the dried blood on her shirt sticking to her body as it shook. Her eyes were tired, large bags under her sad, sad eyes. The strangest thing was that she wasn’t crying anymore, as if she had come to terms with the fate they were forced to face._

_Neither of them were going to get out of this alive, Simon wanted Louis all along and used Lottie as bait to get him into the right place at the perfect time. It was cruel, really. He heard the heavy metal doors be pushed open, the sound of fabric dragging on the ground behind him. Louis was tired, so tired he couldn’t even turn around to see who they were bringing in. He had taken so many hits in the last 20 minutes that his left eye was swelled shut and his entire spine felt like it was being held together by a toothpick._

_“Lou-“ The voice beside him caused a shock wave through his entire body. He found the strength to turn his head to the side, he caught a quick glimpse of the long curly brown hair. He knew._

_“Please, for the love of god just let them go Simon- I’ll do anything! I- I just don’t want them to die man!” Louis cried out, Harry was doing his best to cut Louis off but it wasn’t working at all. Harry would just get hit on the back of the head the more he protested Louis’ words._

_Simon laughed, a slow, quiet, sinister laugh as he paced back and forth between the two boys and Lottie behind him. He had a revolver in his hand, spinning the open chamber and placing 4 bullets inside. “You two should know, that this doesn’t work that way. It’s all or none, the question is… Who goes first? Who has to watch until the end?” Simon said, closing the chamber to the gun after one final spin._

_“You’re sick!” Harry yelled, receiving another hit to the face by the back of a gun, he spit out the blood that was now oozing from his nose._

_Simon looked between Harry and Lottie, holding the gun out to the both of them as if he was testing his aim and which angle he’d like to shoot from- Louis nearly threw up on the spot when Simon stopped changing between the two, landing on Lottie. Louis cried out, he thrashed and yelled as Simon stepped closer with the barrel of the gun resting at the girl’s temple._

_“Bloody hell stop!” Louis screamed, Simon turned and stalked quickly toward him and grabbed his throat._

_“You wanna go first then?” Simon hissed, Louis stared straight at him, not blinking once as the gun pressed between his eyes. Simon didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger quickly, the terrifying ‘click’ causing Harry and Lottie to gasp and let out sobs. Louis didn’t flinch, he couldn’t. Simon turned to his right, his gun facing Harry this time- before Louis could see if the second ‘click’ of the revolver resulted in being fatal, everything went black._

“Louis! Wake up!” Fizzy yelled, shaking her brother as he laid in bed covered in sweat. He thrashed at her touch, throwing himself out of the bed and stood. “Louis, hey- whoa. You’re fine, everything’s good.” Fizzy said calmly, holding her two arms out in front of her, Louis looked ready to kill.

“B-but? Lottie? H-he had her! He had Harry, oh my god Harry!” Louis panicked, pushing past Fizzy and running down the stairs. Louis skidded to a halt, the bed in the living room was empty as he stood. Harry emerged from the kitchen quickly, curious as to what all of the noise was about.

“Louis? Jesus, are you okay?” Harry asked, looking at the smaller boy who was still covered in sweat. Louis’ eyes were wide, hair sticking up in all directions as he tugged at it with shaking hands. “Fizzy, what’s going on?” Harry asked, looking at Fizzy who was now stood behind Louis.

“I don’t know! I woke up because I heard him yelling in his room, it was obviously a dream but he woke up- mumbled a few things and ran down here for you!” She explained, looking at her brother who was slowly calming down.

“He had her… Simon. He had Lottie and Harry, and myself. There wasn’t shit all I could do- I don’t know w-why? I’m sorry.” Louis huffed, closing in on himself. “It was so real though? I couldn’t- I’m sorry guys, can you excuse me?” Louis stuttered, running up to his room and grabbing his emergency pack of cigarettes and lighter before running back downstairs and out the front door.

Fizzy and Harry stood still, exchanging looks between one an another, unsure of what to do. “Should I go out there?” Fizzy asked after a few minutes. Harry shook his head.

“No, have something to eat. I’ll go out.” Harry offered, sliding Fizzy a mug of tea he prepped. Fizzy nodded silently, pulling out some cereal and bowl as she watched Harry step out the front door.

The sun was already casting a warmth on Harry’s face as he looked down at Louis on the front steps. Louis huffed back on his cigarette, his eyes relaxing and his hands no longer shaking. Harry bent down, sitting beside him but loosing his balance and slightly bumping his shoulder against Louis’.

“Oops” Harry said, steadying himself.

“Hi.” Louis whispered, butting out his cigarette onto the cement and sighed.

“Look-“ The two of them said at the same time, laughing a little at each other. Harry nodded to Louis, gesturing for him to go first.

“Sorry, about that. Probably looked like a right mess, stupid nightmare.” Louis explained, looking out to the empty street in front of him.

“It’s fine, really. Are you okay?” Harry asked, looking towards Louis. Louis shook his head.

“No.” He said, shaking his head. Louis stood, glancing around him. Harry stood as well, grabbing Louis by the forearm and pulling him into his chest. His arms wrapping around Louis’ shoulders as Louis tucked his face into the taller mans chest, and let out a breathy sigh. Harry ran a hand up the smaller boys back as Louis let a wall down between them, only crying a little into Harry’s chest as he let his own arms wrap around Harry’s middle.

“You will be.” Harry reassured him, pulling Louis apart from him and holding him by the shoulders to get a good look at the boy in front of him. “You will be okay, we all will. It’s okay to be scared, but you have to be strong.” Harry said, looking Louis in the eyes while Louis brought a hand up to rub at the tears..

“I know, but I can’t always be the tough one!” Louis huffed, shaking his head to himself.

“Hey.” Harry said, shaking Louis a bit to get him to look up. “I know. But the more you break in front of Fizzy, the harder it is for her to believe that you can be the hero. Which, you can be. You will be, and she’ll never doubt you ever again.” Harry whispered, giving Louis a small nod and a smile.

“You’re right, I got this- We. We’ve got this, we all do.” Louis reassured, giving himself a little pep talk. “Phew, woo! Okay, yeah. Let’s do this, let’s get this prick!” Louis said triumphantly, readying himself to walk out into the driveway until Harry grabbed him once more.

“Uh, Lou?” Harry asked, laughing a little at Louis’ sudden motivation. “Shower? Food? Liam and Zayn? Ring a bell?” Harry teased, Louis laughed loudly, his eyes crinkling.

“Shit, yeah. Guess that would all help eh? ‘S a good thing you were here, would’ve stomped off into the city in my pajamas.” Louis said, gesturing down to his attire. Harry laughed this time, gesturing to himself as well.

“ _So_ intimidating, no one would fuck with us.” Harry winked, opening the front door and letting Louis step inside first. Louis hurried to the kitchen, pulling Fizzy into a tight hug.

“Sorry, I’m good now.” He said, receiving a laugh from Fizzy who was squished against his chest.

“It’s fine, now go eat something and for the love of god take a shower! Both of you! You’re stinking up my whole house.” Fizzy teased, shoving Louis off of her and handing the two boys a bowl each and the box of cereal.

“Love you too, Fizz.” Louis rolled his eyes playfully, Harry simply thanked her and apologized for the smell.


	5. Five.

** FIVE **

 

“Shower, shit and shaved!” Louis chimed, walking into the kitchen fully dressed in his everyday clothes- a pair of skinny jeans and a loose t-shirt. Fizzy rolled her eyes, Harry laughed and pushed his damp hair out of his face.

“Gross.”

“Nothing but the truth from here on out sis, sorry.” Louis winked, grabbing himself a bottle of water from the fridge then taking a seat on the counter top. “Liam texted me, him and Zayn will be here shortly.”

“What’s up with Niall then?” Harry asked, and Louis shrugged.

“Not sure, probably went home sometime this morning. Liam didn’t say anything about him, I wouldn’t be too concerned.” Harry hummed in response, walking over to his bag and putting a hair tie on his wrist for later.

Shortly after, a knock on the door rang through the house. Louis beat Harry to the door, gesturing for Liam and Zayn to come inside but was met with the cheeky bastard himself.

“Niall! What in bloody hell are you doing here?” Louis asked, Harry shoved past him and brought Niall into a hug causing Niall to wince but hugged him back anyway. Liam and Zayn emerged from behind, Zayn gave Louis a quick pat on the shoulder after Liam tugged him into a hug.

“It was nothing serious mate! I’m not skippin’ out on this, the lads told me about your sister’s skills. You need a sniper, and I’m that guy.” Niall said, making his way through the front door and walking up to Fizzy who was standing by. “Niall, sniper, sleeper, food lover.” Niall introduced himself, holding a hand out for Fizzy to shake.

“Fizzy, computer geek, sleeper and also a food lover.” She said back, shaking his hand. Niall smiled widely, not letting go of her hand until Harry coughed awkwardly. The two of them dropped hands, blushing. Zayn was introduced next.

“Zayn, model, not too bad with a gun, usually the rational one in the group.” He said, shaking Fizzy’s hand.

“Glad to be on board then, you all seem like you’ve got a hand at something.” Fizzy said and everyone smiled happily. She gestured for everyone to follow her into her office, taking a seat at her desk. “So, I talked to a few friends of mine last night when these two went to bed.” She said, tilting her head back towards Harry and Louis.

“I’ve got codes for the cameras at the building for the event, which means I have full coverage on where Simon would have run out and possibly what vehicle he got into and where it was headed.” Fizzy typed a few things, clicked a couple of files and then each screen had all different angles of the event. Each of the boys stood, a little surprised with the outcome of her work.

“Christ, Fizz. You’re on the ball.” Louis mumbled, stepping forward to get a better look at the screens. Fizzy began playing tapes, waiting for one of the cameras to show Louis entering the hallway. When the tape popped up, Louis was more than happy to see that his head was down to the ground as he chased after Simon. Not a single, noticeable detail showing on him. No one would know who he was.

“Luckily, the hallway you were in was a dead end. Only two supply rooms that had no outdoor exit, which meant Simon would’ve had to back track down the hallway. Which brings us to the next clip,” she typed more codes. “You can see him running through a few rooms, hallways and bam! Out the side door to the right, getting into a white Cadillac, license plate visible.” Fizzy explained, jotting down the plate number on a little sticky note.

“Oh, shit. He headed the opposite direction of us, so he must’ve headed right out of town. I can’t see him having a place directly in the city, it’s too obvious and risky.” Harry said, taking the sticky note with the plate number. “Anybody friends with a cop? Can’t very well run a plate number without a connection.” All the boys thought for a minute, Niall stepping up and pulling out his phone with a smirk.

“My time to shine, lads.” He said, excusing himself into the hallway as he made a phone call.

“Once we get the plate number, what does that do for us?” Liam asked, Zayn rolled his eyes.

“It means we get the ID of the driver, and we go from there. Find out who drove Simon, do some digging and find where he lives or works.” Zayn said, Liam nodded along.

“Oh, right. My bad.” Liam mumbled, Zayn gave him a sympathetic smile. Fizzy opened up what seemed to be a chat room, Louis hovered over her shoulder behind her.

“These your friends?” Louis asked and Fizzy nodded.

“They got me the codes, they’re gonna help us find where the owner of the Cadi lives too. These guys owe me _big_.” She said, scoffing and typing away to the chat room. Louis skimmed through the conversation, not wanting to completely invade her private life. Niall came back in, handing his phone to Fizzy. She talked back and forth with whoever was on the other line, taking notes and typing away to her friends. Harry looked over at Louis, eyes wide.

“Shit, Louis…” Harry said, and Louis turned to face him quickly.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, and Harry ducked his head, whispering.

“The gold.” Was all he said, and Louis looked at him cocking his head to the side like a confused puppy. “Lou, we need to get that brief case from my office. If he’s gonna go anywhere, he’ll go there next. He knows I was working with you.” Harry said, and now Louis was the one with wide eyes.

“Oh fuck.” He said rather calmly. That lasted about two seconds, until he ran a hand through his hair and rushed over to Fizzy who was finished on the phone, batting her eyelashes to Niall as she thanked him. “You need to go into town, the quickest place to buy a proper safe. I’m talking a heavy duty one.” Louis said, and Fizzy tilted her head the same way he did to Harry. “The gold, it’s gonna have to stay here with you.” He said, and she shook her head.

“Absolutely not! I am _not_ keeping that shit here!” She argued, it took a bit to convince her but she eventually gave in. “Fine. If this Simon guy comes here and destroys all my shit, you fucking owe me.” Was all she said after that.

Harry motioned for Louis to follow him into the upstairs spare room. “We can’t go back there, there’s no way. Simon probably has eyes on the whole place!” Harry said, and Louis let out a frustrated huff.

“We’re about to make this a lot more difficult than it needs to be, but I have an idea… It’s a tricky one.” Louis said, scratching at his chin. He began explaining his idea, Harry had his jaw dropped open the entire time.

“No fucking way. Nope! There’s no way in hell Jade will do it!” Harry argued, but made the phone call anyway. A few minutes later, he came back into the bedroom and rubbed his hands over his face and looked at Louis. “She said she’s in. She’ll fucking do it.” He huffed, and Louis fist pumped.

 

**_An hour later._ **

 

“I’ve got eyes on the office building, we’re definitely not the only ones though.” Fizzy said through her headset. Liam and Zayn made a quick trip to Jack’s warehouse and picked up a few items, headsets, cameras, mics and of course weapons. Liam also told Zayn to drive one of the Mercedes back with them since the SUV they stole wasn’t the fastest and neither was Fizzy’s little Fiat.

Fizzy defended herself, obviously. Pointing out how she never thought a day would come where she had to have a super fast vehicle to escape trouble. Harry gave Fizzy the codes to the cameras all over his office building so that she could pull them up on her computer, a request for forgiveness after jabbing at her about the little Fiat.

“Looks like there’s an SUV idling not even half a block away from the main entrance, there’s also another one that’s the exact same at the back of it.” Fizzy explained. “Jade, can you hear me?” She asked.

“Loud and clear, what’s next?” Jade asked. Fizzy ran through the procedure once more, making sure everyone on the line understood what needed to be done. Louis was impressed with how well Fizzy was at being in charge, he of course came up with all of the ideas but she was the eyes on the whole mission so she needed to be giving the orders as the task played out.

Everyone was stationed in certain places, Liam was sat about a block away on a bench closest to the SUV in the front of the building, Zayn was the same but near the SUV at the back. Harry was using Fizzy’s car, parked not far from the building where Liam and Zayn could easily catch a ride if they needed to. Niall insisted on taking comfort on a roof a couple building’s down, having the SUV from the event parked nearby as a get away and of course Louis had the hardest part of the job.

Louis was parked directly in front of the building doors, using one of Fizzy’s old hats from a police costume she had to make it look like he was just another chauffeur lined up outside. “Alright Jade, let’s go.” Louis said, adjusting his rear-view mirror and checking his side mirrors. He could see the top of the black SUV a few cars behind him.

“Wait-“ Jade said, and everyone held their breath. “Harry, did you request a new doorman?” She asked. Louis cursed under his breath, looking towards the doors to see a very large man dressed in a doorman suit.

“I didn’t. Don’t go out yet.” Harry said, everyone could hear shuffling on through the line. “Niall, do you have a decent shot for the doors?” Harry asked.

“As long as no one gets in the way, hell yeah I do.” Niall said. “Go on Jade, stay to the left of the steps. Act like he’s just another guy, don’t rush into the car. Calm, cool and collected.” Niall whispered, Louis could picture him resting on his stomach on the roof top- one eye closed with his finger resting on the trigger of his sniper.

“Alright, I’m coming out.” Jade said, Fizzy watched her on the cameras, clocking out in the lobby with her messenger bag over her shoulders that held the brief case. Jade walked up to the doors, the man opened the door for her and tipped his hat to her. Jade stayed to the left of the stairs, casually checking her phone as she stepped onto the sidewalk and made her way to the car.

“Atta girl, keep walking.” Louis whispered, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“The doorman’s coming up behind you, stay completely calm.” Fizzy warned, Louis looked out the side mirror and saw the man making his way closer to Jade while he looked around hesitantly. “Excuse me, miss!” He called out, Jade turned casually and looked at the man.

“I should’ve asked you at the door, but would you like a hand with your bag? It looks a bit heavy.” He asked, Louis scoffed at the terrible attempt. Oldest trick in the book. Jade shook her head, laughing lightly.

“Oh, no thank you. It’s just sewing supplies and paperwork, it’s really nothing.” She said, playing it as coolly possible. Louis watched as the man kept insisting no matter how much Jade would back away further towards the car. Out of the corner of his eye, Louis saw the black SUV moving itself up a few parking spots.

“Jade, decline once more and walk to the car quickly.” Louis said, he watched as Jade declined again and turned to walk quickly to his car. She made it into the car, the man stood beside the passenger window, calling out to her. Louis didn’t dare look towards him, he put the car in drive and pulled out of the spot.

“Lou, you’ve got company.” Fizzy said, and Louis sighed. “Do what you do best bro, put that car to work and get this show on the road!” She cheered, Louis rolled his eyes and shifted the car into another gear up.

“Harry, get Zayn and Liam. Meet me at the 3rd intersection on our street, try to tail me.” Louis said, looking over to Jade who gave him a weak smile. “Buckle up!” He said in a cheery voice, Jade quickly strapped herself into the seat and took her heels off her feet. “What’re you doing that for?” Lois asked and she laughed.

“Worst case scenario, the car somehow stops working and we’ve gotta run.” She said, and Louis nodded in agreement.

“Wont happen though babe, you’re with the best driver in the city!” Louis said, switching gears so smoothly that the car didn’t jerk the slightest. He picked up his speed, the SUV still a few cars behind him.

“Lou, I’m at the lights.” Harry said, waiting patiently with Zayn riding shotgun and Liam in the backseat. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, plugging his phone into the Aux cord. “Oh, I love this one!” Harry said happily, turning up the radio as _Come With Me Now – The KONGOS_  played through the speakers.

“Louis they’re on your ass, you need to pick up the pace!” Fizzy yelled through the headset.

“It’s not my fault the streets are busy!” Louis argued, swerving through cars on the roads as best as he could. He was about two blocks from the intersection that Harry would be waiting at, he had matched every green light as he sped through the streets so far- except, “Oh of fucking course it’s yellow!” Louis yelled. It was the light that Harry is supposed to turned right at, getting onto Louis’ ass to put more distance between him and the SUV. He popped his shift into the highest gear, speeding towards the lights.

“Go!” louis yelled, his Mercedes just barely making it through the red light. Harry turned right, trying to catch up to Louis in the little Fiat.

“I can’t very well keep up in this fucking thing!” Harry argued, he was about to complain some more but a second SUV that had a broken window whipped out from a side street in front of Harry. A very pale, skinny arm hung out the driver’s side window and flipped him off.

“Don’t worry lad, I’ll pick up your slack!” Niall called out through the headset, everyone laughed. “Oi, finish him!” He called once more. Harry looked back to Liam, nodding to him once before focusing on the road again. Liam crawled into the back hatch of the car as Harry opened the rear window enough so that Liam could get a clear shot through it.

“What’s happening? I don’t have eyes on you guys anymore!” Fizzy asked frantically through the headset.

“Liam’s doin’ his job, Louis’ so far ahead and I’m just contemplating what I want for dinner.” Niall responded, making Fizzy laugh lightly.

Back in Harry’s car, Liam was quick to shoot at the two front tires on the SUV, causing it to swerve all over the road and eventually crash. “Alright everyone split up!” Harry said, taking a sharp left on the nearest street and disappearing from the main road.

Louis continued his route, still driving at least 20 over the speed limit- Jades knuckles were white from gripping the door handle in panic. Louis was happy to know that Liam took care of the SUV, he was ready to drop a few gears and just cruise back to his sister’s house until another large SUV pulled out behind him from a side street. “Louis, watch out!” Jade yelled, before Louis could speed up, the front of the SUV hit the ass end of the Mercedes, causing the car to do a 180 in the middle of the road. Louis put the car in reverse, carefully watching over his shoulder and watching the SUV in front of him chase them.

“Get my gun out of the console!” Louis yelled, Jade quickly got him his gun and put it in his hand. He unrolled his window, sticking his gun out and began shooting. “Hold the wheel!” He added, and Jade screamed as he let go- giving her no choice but to take control of the car. Louis shot multiple times at the SUV, managing to take out the left tire.

“Louis turn this thing the fuck around!” Jade shouted, Louis did just that. Hopping back into his seat, he spun the wheel hard to the right doing a J turn, making the car face forward the way that they were going in reverse. Jade looked pale, ready to throw up.

“Told ya I was the best!” Louis said cheekily. A scoff was heard through the headset. “Oi, keep your mouth shut Haz! I can hear you.” Louis snapped, Harry simply laughed and called him a jackass in return.

It took a bit, but eventually Louis lost the SUV thanks to Harry causing a bit of a traffic jam on one of the streets, only leaving an opening that he knew Louis would be able to squeeze through. “Well done everyone, bring it on home.” Fizzy said, Louis could picture her leaning back in her chair- smiling proudly to herself.

 

Everyone eventually made it back to Fizzy’s without a problem, Niall was the first one back, already making himself comfortable at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in hand. Louis and Jade were next, Jade practically falling out of the car and laying on the grass beside the driveway. “Sweet Jesus, I’ll never neglect the solid ground again!” She sighed before Louis helped her back up to her feet. She handed Louis the messenger bag.

Louis stepped inside, the bag hanging over his shoulder. “Woo! Mission accomplished, now let’s order- Ow! What the hell?” He stumbled, grabbing his foot that he just smashed into a large black metal box.

“My friends picked up the safe for me while we did all that shit, your turn to move it.” Fizzy said, sitting down beside Niall in the kitchen. Louis kicked off his vans, Jade dropped her heels down onto the floor and properly introduced herself to Fizzy and Niall. “You were saying?” She asked, and Louis thought for a moment.

“Oh! Let’s order pizza, I’ll text Liam to pick up a case of beer before they get back.” Louis said, dropping down onto the couch. Fizzy must’ve put the pull out away, but had all of Harry’s bedding folded nicely on the ground beside the couch itself. He sent a quick text to Liam, demanding beer and that they would have pizza be delivered to the house for dinner.

The rest of the boys showed up not long after, each of them walking in with a case of beer. The boys put a couple bottles in the freezer to cool them quicker, and then put a few more in the fridge for later. 10 minutes later, 4 large pizza’s were sat on the kitchen counter with all the boys collecting slices and taking seats at the table.  Fizzy stopped them all from taking a bite though, sitting at the end of the table with her hands out to her sides. Louis sat beside her, taking her hand in his while Liam did the same on her other side. Everyone joined hands while Fizzy spoke.

“I’ve never done this shit before, but I thought that under the circumstances, it was needed and more appropriate than a toast.” Fizzy said, everyone laughed lightly and nodded. “I just want to say that today was probably one of the most badass things I’ve ever done. It’s for the shittiest reasons, obviously. But it’ll be worth it in the end.” Louis gave his sisters hand a little squeeze and smiled. “Tonight, we plan. Tomorrow, we find out where my sister is.” Fizzy said seriously, bowing her head and the others copied her actions.

“Haven’t the slightest clue if there’s a God up there, but if there is- I sure hope my sisterly-instinct is right, cause I feel like she’s safe. So, whoever’s up there- don’t let me down.” Fizzy said, and everyone hummed in agreement and lifted their heads. Louis stood, beer in hand.

“I suck at being sentimental and what not so I’ll just stand and talk.” Louis said, earning quiet laughs and eye rolls from around the table. “Just wanna say a quick thanks to everyone, I wouldn’t have a chance in hell at this if you guys weren’t here. It was my mistake, and you all had no problem helping me out- even if Harry probably forced you” Louis winked to Zayn and Niall, earning a smack on the arm from Harry who was seated beside him.

“But, a huge thanks to this guy.” He patted Harry’s shoulder, “Thanks for staying in that cab, mate.” Louis said softly and raised his beer. The others joined in, clinking bottles to one another and began to eat.

Conversation flowed easily around the table, everyone asking questions about each other and occasional arguing between one another. Louis felt genuinely happy for the first time in a while as he glanced around the room, Liam and Jade talking about her university courses, Zayn and Harry talking about some funny thing that happened a few years back, he even felt comfortable watching Niall and Fizzy talk about anything and everything.

He felt good knowing he wasn’t the center of attention for once, he finally had the chance to sit back and just listen. His heart tugged though, wishing Lottie was here to bug him about basic things and to talk to. He couldn’t focus on that though, he had to remind himself that soon enough- she’ll be sat around the table with all his new and old friend’s too.

Harry nudged his side a few minutes later, bringing Louis out of his thoughts and offering him a smile. “You good?” He asked, and Louis nodded.

“Best I’ve been in a while.” Louis said, smiling and bringing his beer up to clink against Harry’s. Louis excused himself for a smoke shortly after, finding a spot on the steps like he did in the morning. Liam joined him shortly after, sitting down with his beer in his hand.

“So, what’s going on?” Liam asked, Louis looked at him confusedly and raised and eyebrow. “Come on, you know what I mean.” Liam tried again, Louis didn’t quite catch on.

“I really don’t mate, gonna have to be more detailed.” Liam sighed.

“I meant with you and Harry!” Liam said, and Louis looked at him wide eyed- choking a little causing smoke to sputter out of his mouth and make him cough harshly. “Jesus.” Liam muttered, patting Louis on the back until he stopped coughing.

“Nothing’s going on.” Louis said seriously, Liam laughed loudly, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Oh, come on! You turned into complete mush when you thanked him for not getting out of that fucking cab! It’s so obvious!” Liam whispered, Louis simply shook his head in denial.

“Not even! I was being nice, you know. I’m actually capable of doing that, believe it or not.” Louis snapped, Liam raised his hands in defense.

“Sheesh mate, I wasn’t trying to piss you off. It’s just, you two look at each other a lot and like talk with your eyes and shit.” Liam explained, taking a long sip of his beer.

“We do not!” Louis squeaked and Liam smirked.

“Your voice is doing that thing when you lie.”

“Is not!” Louis squeaked again, his voice higher than usual. Liam only laughed, nudging his elbow against Louis’.

“You can’t say shit, you hopped on the opportunity to be alone with Zayn the second it came up.” Louis shot back, getting no reaction from Liam beside a shrug and a smile. _God damnit._

“At least I wont lie, he’s awesome. We’ve got a lot of shit in common, and not to mention he’s fit as hell.” Liam said, and Louis faked a gag.

“Stop. Don’t go any further, I’m done. Goodbye.” Louis said, standing up.

“Just admit you at least find him fit! You’d be insane not to.” Liam poked Louis’ side, causing Louis to squirm away.

“Get out, leave. I’m done with you-“ Liam poked his ribs again. “Would you just-!” _Poke_. “Okay fine! He’s fit as _fuck._ He’s a 6-foot teddy bear with soft hair and a _really_ nice body, and a great personality. There, you happy?” Louis snapped, Liam simply smiled and skipped inside without saying a word. Louis trekked in behind him, a sour look on his face as he sprawled across the couch, his whole body stretching across Fizzy and Niall’s laps.

Harry was laid on the floor, rubbing his stomach that was a little plumped out with a food baby. Zayn was chilling in the recliner, Jade was sitting on the arm rest of the couch and Liam decided to lay on the floor beside Harry. An episode of Friend’s played on the TV behind the two of them, Louis felt content once again as he relaxed.

After a few episodes, Liam and Zayn got an Uber to come get them from Fizzy’s to take them to a nearby hotel. Jade offered Niall the spare bedroom at her flat about 20 minutes from Fizzy’s in town, which left Louis, Harry and Fizzy to get ready for bed.

“Lou, can I talk to you for a minute?” Fizzy asked, “In my office… No offence Harry, just a brother-sister talk.” She said, and Harry shrugged it off and got to making his bed while Louis followed his sister to her office. Fizzy sat down in her large swivel chair and Louis sat up on the desk.

“So, what’s going on Fizz?” Louis asked, and Fizzy looked down to her feet shyly.

“Do you really think we can get her back?” She asked quietly, Louis was about to speak when she cut him off. “I know we’ve got like, the best people but I can’t help but worry. Like, is she okay? Is she getting food? Are they torturing her? I-is she even still alive?” Fizzy choked out, Louis stood up and gestured Fizzy to stand. Louis took a seat in her chair, pulling his sister into his lap for a cuddle.

“Fizz, I’ve been asking myself the same questions since the words came out of his mouth.” Louis sighed, Fizzy nodded and rubbed at her eyes. “But, we can’t focus on the negatives. Like you said, we’ve got amazing people helping us and everyone wants her to come home safely.”

“I just, I- how do you do it?” Fizzy asked, and Louis looked down to his sister.

“I don’t know Fizz, I just do it. I’ve seen and done a lot of terrible things, I’ve got walls built up around me like a god damn fortress. However, I still break just like everyone else does.” Louis said, wrapping a tight arm around Fizzy’s shoulders.

“The things, I’ve done and seen… It’s destroyed me and made me stronger all at once. If you’re having second guesses about doing this, it’s okay to back out Fizz-“

“No, no. I want to help, I just need to know how to deal with it.” She cut him off, Louis smiled softly.

“You never really learn how to deal with it, and you might see things you don’t ever wish to see on your worst enemy when you watch those cameras. You sort of get the adrenaline rush, right?” Louis thought for a moment. “But once that stops, after everything has happened… That’s when it hits you the hardest. Don’t ever get used to it, Fizz. That’s the worst you can do.” Louis sighed, and Fizzy looked at him a little lost.

“Don’t build the walls, is what I’m trying to say. It’s healthy to feel scared, angry, distressed, sad… It’s better to feel everything, than to feel nothing at all.” Louis explained, and Fizzy nodded. She had stopped crying, with the comfort of her brother.

“I missed you, we all did.” Fizzy said quietly, Louis sucked in a sharp breath. “Maybe when this is all done… You could make a trip home.” Louis sighed. “Seriously, Lou. No ones mad at you anymore for what you do, we’ve all come to accept it- but we all miss our brother… Mum misses her sunshine.” Louis let a single tear fall down his cheek, hearing the word _sunshine_ \- his mother’s voice came to mind.

“Maybe bring Harry along too, mum would love him.” Fizzy teased, poking Louis’ sighed.

“Oi, this conversation ends here. Already had it with Liam, not having it with you. Wait’a ruin the moment.” Louis said, shoving Fizzy off him and standing. Fizzy tackled Louis into a hug, Louis held her tightly and smiled into her shoulder.

“Maybe you should bring Niall.” He said, and Fizzy shook her head laughing.

They hugged for a little while longer, just enjoying the moment of normalness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ! this story has Jay in it, and will continue to have her in it. I'm telling you all this because this chapter mentions Jay in a soft way. It may be hard for some of you to read, of course it's nothing bad but it may make you a little emotional. I care about my readers, and I just want to put this out there before you read this update. 
> 
> I've been dealing with some mental and physical health problems for a few weeks now, and I've been utter shit at updating so I apologize. I'll be doing my best to keep up from now on. Thank you, and enjoy. 
> 
> xx Ash.


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